ii  A.  T  /!?  14 1?  M 

I3I./TL  1 '-~  \^  1 1 .01 1 


i   HISTORY,  TRADITIONS  AND  NARRATIVES 

i  OF  THE 

QUERKS  INDIANS 

^nH 
LAGU MA'  AND  ACOMA 


JOHN  M,  OUNN 


7 


SCHAT-CHEIsT 


HISTORY 

TRADITIONS  AND  NARATIVES 


OF  THE 


QTJERES  INDIANS 


LACxUNA  AND  ACOMA 


: 

JOHN  M. 


k 


A  part  of  this  History  was  published  ir\ 

"RECORDS  Or  THE  PAST" 

Washington,  D.  Gin  1904 

The  Continental  pronunciation  is  used  for  all  foreignwords  in  the  stories,  traditions 
and  anecdotes,  found  in  last  part  of  this  work. 


The  drawings  In  this  book  are  drawn  by  Queres  Indians 


Copyrighted  1916  by  JOHN  M.  GUNN 


1917 

ALBRIGHT  &  ANDERSON 
Albuquerque,  N.  M. 


PREFACE 

The  eternal  glory  of  all  great  things  belongs  to  the 
one  who  has  placed  the  first  stone. — Kenan. 

We  of  today,  the  great  Aryan  race,  who  hold  the 
scepter  of  civilization,  must  acknowledge  our  indebted 
ness — "with  becoming  admiration,  what  we  have  inher 
ited  from  our  Cushite  predecessors." — Baldwin. 

They  were  the  first  civilizers,  the  first  enlightened 
nation  of  antiquity.  They  taught  the  world  the  art  of 
navigation,  the  phonetic  alphabet  and  the  science  of  num 
bers.  They  are  the  ones  who  gathered  from  different 
parts  of  the  world  and  tamed  nearly  all  of  what  we  call 
our  domestic  animals.  They  were  the  architects  who 
built  the  great  monuments  and  cities,  now  in  ruin,  of 
Arabia,  Egypt,  Mexico  and  Central  America.  When  at 
the  height  of  their  glory  this  nation  had  colonies  in  prac 
tically  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Hannibal,  Thales,  Dido  and  Cleopatra  were  of  that 
nationality. 

And  the  Queres  Indians  of  Laguna  and  Acoma  are 
one  of  the  last  fading  remnants  of  that  great  people. 


INDEX 

,  Page 

Preface    3 

Introduction    7 

Schat-chen — 

Authentic  History  11 

Espejo  and  Beltran 23 

Juan  de  Onate,  First  Governor  of  the  Province 35 

The  Pope  Rebellion 40 

Diego  de  Vargas,  Governor  of  New  Mexico 46 

Pedro  Rodriguez  Cubero's  Administration 52 

Antonio  de  Obejada  and  the  Grant  Title  Papers 53 

Ancient  History  65 

History  of  Aztec  and  Toll-tecs 77 

The  Tolltecs  or  Nah-wish 81 

Queres  Settlement  in  Florida  and  West  Indies 85 

Ancient  Religion  and  Beliefs  of  the  Queres 89 

Modern  History  of  Laguna  and  Acoma 93 

Prophecy  of  She-ake 101 

Traditions  and  Narratives  of  the  Queres — 

The  Tradition  of  Ship-op 109 

Ko-pot  Ka-nat  115 

The  Sits-Shrai-Wa 120 

I-Sto-a-Moot  and  Hi-Stchi-an  Ko-a-Suts 122 

Sutsu-Nuts,  the  Ruler  of  the  Ka-Tsi-Na 127 

qi-Yo  Ke-Pe 134 

The  Unsealing  of  Katsina  Kutret 139 

Masts-Tru-Oi,  the  Cliff  Dweller 144 

Ru-Ru-Ka-Moot  and  the  Awl 155 

Pais-Chun-Ni-M-oot,  the  Fire  Brand  Boy 161 

Moki  Tradition    167 

The  Battle  of  the  Sto-ro-ka  and  the  Kats-tsi-na 173 

Pusts-Moot   176 

Is-To-A-Moot  and  the  Buffalo  Man • 184 

I-Sto-A-Moot  and  His  Sister 190 

The  Turtle,  the  Deer  and  the  She  Wolf 192 

Yo-A-Schi-Moot  and  the  Kun-Ni-Te-Ya 195 

Ko-Chin-Ni-Na-Ko  and  Ko-Ci-Ma 205 

The  Governor  of  Acoma  and  the  Kun-ni-te-ya 209 

The  Hunter  Girl  and  the  Giantess 211 

The  Coyote  and  the  Horned  Toad 214 

Sh-Ah-Cock  and  Miochin  or  the  Battle  of  the  Seasons. .  .  .217 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Frontispiece — Pueblo  of  Laguna. 

A  Plume  Offering  to  the  Deities 12 

The  Village  of  Acoma 14 

A  Queres  Woman  in  Native  Costume 24 

Standing  Rock  near  the  Village  of  Acoma 34 

The  Butte  of  "El  Moro" — Inscription  Rock 49 

Costume  Worn  by  the  Queres 58 

Queres  Indian  in  His  Ancient  Costume 66 

Acoma  and  Laguna  Pottery 71 

Old  Woman  Parching  Corn * 74 

Ruins  of  Chichen 83 

Symbol  Representing  Eyetico 88 

A  Queres  Family 92 

Mauray — One  of  the  Hero  Brothers * 108 

O-Yo-Yave,  the  Other  Hero  Brother Ill 

Kopot 114 

Ko-kah-ki-eh,  Brother  of  Kopot- 117 

Sut-su-nuts 126 

The  Scouts  Changed  to  Clowns — Komi-osh 138 

Masts-Tru-Oi,  the  Cliff  Dweller 142 

A  Queres  Girl  Carrying  a  Jar  of  Water 149 

O-srats  Pai-Tum-Mu    154 

Ki-Nah-Ne,  the  Gambler 160 

Hutch-a-Mun  or  Prayer  Sticks 166 

Construction  of  Prayer  Sticks 168 

Ky-ah-hy-o    170 

The  Sto-ro-ka   172 

Sabe  Nowish  .  . .  174 


INTRODUCTION 

History  should  be  an  accurate  account  of  every  sig 
nificant  fact,  but  a  good  deal  of  ancient  history  of  remote 
antiquity  has  come  down  to  us  from  oral  tradition.  Be 
fore  the  invention  of  the  phonetic  alphabet,  there  was 
no  other  feasible  way  of  recording  acquired  knowledge 
and  historical  events  which  people  wished  to  preserve  for 
future  generations.  After  the  science  of  letters  was 
understood,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  copy  these  old 
yarns,  but  in  many  instances  they  had  lost  most  of  their 
original  meaning ;  each  one  who  repeated  them  imparted 
a  certain  personality  and  made  slight  changes.  So  it 
can  be  seen  that  traditions  which  have  come  down  orally 
from  dim  antiquity  to  the  present  time,  with  never  an 
attempt  to  analyze  or  confine  to  written  words,  present 
quite  a  problem  for  solution.  Of  such  is  the  character  of 
the  Queres  traditions.  They  are  probably  no  more  absurd 
than  those  of  any  of  the  ancient  nations  with  which  we 
are  acquainted;  for  instance,  the  Grecian  tradition  of 
the  Golden  'Fleece,  or  of  Cadmus  and  the  Dragon's 
Teeth,  yet  these  traditions  record  two  of  the  greatest  sci 
entific  and  historical  facts  of  ancient  times.  The  first 
circumnavigation  of  Africa  by  the  Phoenecians.  The 
second  the  introduction  of  phonetic  writing  in  Europe. 
These  old  yarns  would  be  pretty  hard  to  decipher  if  we 
had  no  other  historical  data  to  guide  us;  but  with  the 
Queres  it  is  different.  We  have  no  Herodotus,  no  Plato, 
no  Strabo  or  Diadorus  to  help  us;  no  inscriptions 
or  hieroglyphics  we  might  decipher,  but  we  will  proceed 
to  untangle  some  of  these  knotty  old  yarns  and  abide  by 
the  verdict  of  the  reader.  We  will  begin  with  the  au 
thentic  history  left  us  by  the  early  Spanish  explorers  in 
this  country  which  introduces  to  us  the  Queres  Pueblo 
Indians  of  Acoma  and  Laguna.  We  follow  the  accounts 


8  SCHAT-CHEN 

of  these  old  Spanish  Conquistadores  as  long  as  they 
remain  sovereigns  of  New  Mexico,  then  by  the  pale, 
flickering  light  of  tradition  trace  the  ancestors  of  these 
Queres  Indians  away  into  the  dim  past,  if  not  to  their 
origin  at  least  to  a  remote  antiquity,  guided  at  times  only 
by  fragments  of  traditions,  a  word,  a  phrase  or  certain 
features  of  their  language;  scattered  here  and  there  at 
long  intervals  along  the  trail  now  almost  obliterated. 
As  we  follow  their  wanderings  we  feel  for  them  a  mel 
ancholy  sympathy ;  they  are  the  same  in  manner,  customs 
and  beliefs  today  as  they  were  centuries  before  the 
haughty  Caucasian  trod  the  western  continent,  but  at  the 
dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  we  see  the  sign  of  a 
change  and  the  time  may  be  when  the  descendants  of 
these  Queres  Indians  will  give  to  the  world  minds  as 
great  as  the  world  has  yet  produced.  Hoping  that  they 
may  be  guided  and  guarded  by  that  great  intelligence 
(Sitch-tche-nock-o)  the  spirit  of  reason  to  whom  they 
pray,  I  have  gathered  these  old  myths,  traditions  and 
historical  facts  that  have  survived  the  obliterating  influ 
ence  of  time. 


A  PLUME  OFFERING  TO  THE  DEITIES 


SC  HAT-CHEN 


AUTHENTIC  HISTORY 

Laguna,  village  of  the  lake,  though  the  lake  has  long 
been  drained,  and  where  the  ripples  once  chased  each 
other  across  an  expanse  of  water  two  miles  long  by  one- 
half  mile  wide,  now  wave  fields  of  wheat  and  corn. 

Youngest  of  the  Queres  villages,  the  exact  date  of  set 
tlement  is  indefinite.  Certain,  however,  something  more 
than  200  years  have  received  the  shelter  of  its  walls  and 
passed  on  to  oblivion. 

The  Spanish  records  of  the  country  put  the  date  of 
settlement  in  the  year  1699.  De  Thoma  says:  "The 
Queres  of  Cieneguilla,  Santo  Domingo  and  Cochiti  con 
structed  in  the  same  year  (1699)  a  new  pueblo  close  to 
an  arroyo,  four  leagues  north  of  Acoma.  On  the  fourth 
day  of  July,  in  1699,  this  pueblo  swore  its  vassalage  and 
obedience,  and  received  the  name  of  'San  Jose  de  la 
Laguna.'  But  from  other  historical  sources  and  tra 
ditions  it  is  evident  that  it  was  settled  several  years 
previous  to  this  date. 

The  first  reference  to  this  particular  place  is  by  Her- 
nando  de  Alvarado,  an  officer  in  the  expedition  of  Coro- 
nado.  In  his  report  to  the  general  he  says : 

"We  set  out  from  Granada  (Ojo  Caliente,  one  of  the 
Zuni  villages)  on  Sunday,  the  day  of  the  'beheading  of 
John  the  Baptist,  the  29th  of  August,  in  the  year  1540, 
on  the  way  to  Co  Co  (Acoma).  After  we  had  gone  two 
leagues  we  came  to  an  ancient  building,  like  a  fortress, 
and  a  league  beyond  we  found  another,  and  yet  another; 
a  little  further  on,  and  beyond  these,  we  found  an  ancient 
city,  very  large,  entirely  destroyed,  although  a  large  part 
of  the  walls  were  standing,  which  were  six  times  as  tall 
as  a  man,  the  walls  well  made,  of  good  stone,  with  gates 


12  SCHAT    CHEN 

and  gutters  like  a  city  in  Castile.  Half  a  league  or  more 
beyond  this  we  found  another  ruined  city,  the  walls  of 
which  must  have  been  very  fine,  built  of  very  large  gran 
ite  blocks  as  high  as  a  man. 

"Here  tv\  o  roads  separate,  one  to  Chia  (Zia)  and  the 
other  to  Co  Co  (Acoma).  We  took  the  latter  and  reached 
that  place,  which  is  one  of  the  strongest  places  that  we 
have  ever  seen,  because  the  city  is  on  a  very  high  rock, 
with  such  a  rough  ascent  that  we  repented  having  gone 
up  to  the  place.  The  houses  have  three  or  four  stories. 
The  people  are  the  same  sort  as  those  of  the  province  of 
Cibola;  they  have  plenty  of  food,  of  corn  and  beans  and 
fowls,  like  those  of  New  Spain.  From  here  we  went  to 
a  very  good  lake  or  (Laguna)  marsh,  where  there  are 
trees  like  those  of  Castile. 

"From  here  we  went  to  a  river,  which  we  named 
Nuestra  Senora,  because  we  reached  it  the  evening  before 
her  day.  In  the  month  of  September  (8)  we  sent  the 
cross  by  a  guide  to  the  village  in  advance,  and  the  next 
day  the  people  came  from  twelve  villages,  the  chief  men 
and  people  in  order,  those  of  one  village  behind  those 
of  another,  and  they  approached  the  tent  to  the  sound 
of  a  pipe,  and  with  an  old  man  for  spokesman.  In  this 
fashion  they  came  into  the  tent  and  gave  me  the  food 
and  clothing  and  skins  they  had  brought,  and  I  gave 
them  some  trinkets  and  they  went  off. 

"The  river  of  Nuestra  Senora  flows  through  a  very 
open  plain,  sowed  with  corn  plants.  There  are  several 
groves  and  there  are  twelve  villages.  t 

"The  houses  are  of  earth,  two  stories  high.  The 
people  have  a  good  appearance,  more  like  laborers  than 
a  warlike  race.  They  have  a  large  food  supply  of  corn, 
beans,  melons  and  fowls  in  great  plenty.  They  clothe 
themselves  with  cotton  and  skins  of  cows  and  dresses  of 
the  feathers  of  the  fowls. 

"Those  who  have  most  authority  ar^  the  old  mem 


AUTHENTIC    HISTORY  13 

We  regarded  them  as  witches  because  they  say  that  they 
go  up  into  the  sky,  and  other  things  of  the  same  sort.  In 
this  province  there  are  seven  other  villages,  depopulated 
and  destroyed  by  those  Indians  who  paint  their  eyes,  of 
whom  the  guide  will  tell  your  grace.  They  say  that  they 
live  in  the  same  region  as  the  cows,  and  that  they  have 
corn  and  houses  of  straw.  Here  the  people  of  another 
village  came  to  make  peace  with  me,  and  as  your  grace 
may  see  in  this  memorandum  there  are  eighty  villages 
there,  of  the  same  sort  as  I  have  described,  and  among 
them  one  which  is  located  on  some  stream.  It  is  divided 
into  twenty  divisions,  which  is  something  remarkable. 
The  houses  have  three  stories  of  mud  walls,  and  three 
others  of  small  wooden  boards,  and  on  the  outside  of  the 
three  stories  with  the  mud  walls  they  have  three  bal 
conies.  It  seems  to  us  that  there  were  nearly  15,000  per 
sons  in  this  village.  The  country  is  very  cold.  They  do 
not  raise  fowls  or  cotton.  They  worship  the  sun  and' 
water.  In  some  mounds  of  earth  outside  of  the  places 
where  they  are  buried  and  in  the  places  where  crosses 
were  raised  we  saw  them  worship  there.  They  made 
offerings  to  these  of  their  powder  and  feathers,  and 
some  left  the  blankets  they  had  on.  They  showed  so 
much  zeal  that  some  climbed  up  on  the  others  to  grasp 
the  arms  of  the  cross  to  place  feathers  and  flowers  there, 
and  the  others  bringing  ladders;  while  some  held  them 
others  went  up  to  tie  strings  so  as  to  fasten  the  flowers 
and  feathers. " 

Here  abruptly  ends  the  report. 

The  lake  of  which  Alvarado  speaks,  and  which  gave 
to  the  village  the  name  of  Laguna,  was  a  short  distance 
west  of  the  pueblo.  Geological  evidence  shows  that  at 
some  time,  many  years  ago,  a  stream  of  molten  lava 
flowed  down  the  valley,  following  the  river,  and  filling  up 
the  channel  where  the  stream  ran,  between  bluffs,  thus 
damming  the  river  in  many  places  and  forming  lakes. 


AUTHENTIC    HISTORY  15 

Such  was  the  lake  at  Laguna.  It  is  evident  that  a  much 
larger  stream  than  the  present  one  once  flowed  through 
the  valley,  filling  the  ha  sins  formed  'by  the  lava  flow  and 
then  pouring  over  the  rocky  obstructions,  and  in  time 
wore  a  new  channel  through  the  solid  lava,  in  some  places 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  and  forty  feet  deep,  which  must 
have  taken  ages  to  complete ;  the  water  being  furnished  in 
all  probability  by  local  glaciers,  as  there  are  signs  of  gla 
cial  action  and  moraines  in  the  Zuni  mountains  to  the 
west.  After  a  new  channel  had  thus  been  formed  and 
the  lake  drained  there  came  a  period  of  drought  and  the 
beavers,  taking  advantage  of  the  narrow  channels,  con 
structed  artificial  dams,  again  backing  up  the  water  and 
refilled  the  basins.  Such  was  the  lake  when  Alvarado 
and  his  soldiers  first  passed  through  here. 

When  the  Indians  came  to  build  the  town  the  beavers 
were  frightened  away,  but  the  villagers  continued  to  re 
pair  the  dam  from  time  to  time  until  the  year  1850, 
when  on  account  of  religious  disputes  the  people  refused 
to  obey  the  officers  or  work  together  in  unity.  The  dam 
washed  away  and  the  lake  was  drained.  The  Spaniards 
named  the  stream  which  supplied  the  lake  the  Rio  del 
Gallo,  probably  on  account  of  the  mud  hens  which  in 
fested  these  marshes  and  lakes  in  great  numbers,  and 
which  have  some  resemblance  to  a  chicken,  but  as  no 
mention  is  made  of  any  habitation,  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  was  no  settlement  here  at  that  time. 

Fifteen  miles  southwest  of  Laguna  rises  the  great 
rock  of  Acoma,  crowned  by  the  ancient  pueblo  of  the 
same  name.  Basking  in  the  summer  suns  and  swept  by 
the  winter  blasts  of  centuries,  the  old  village,  though 
now  slightly  in  ruins,  still  smiles  on  the  rugged  mesas 
and  fantastically  shaped  rocks  with  which  nature  has 
surrounded  it,  the  great  buttes  and  curiously  eroded  pil 
lars,  nearly  all  of  which  have  some  entertaining  story  of 
folk-lore  connected  with  it,  and  are  sure  to  excite  the 


16  SCHAT-CHEN 

imagination  when  viewed  for  the  first  time.  The  town 
was  ever  a  source  of  wonder  to  the  early  Spaniards,  who 
visited  the  country.  They  wrote  the  name  indifferently, 
Co-co,  Acuco,  Tutuhaco,  Hacus.  Acuco  was  the  name 
most  frequently  used.  This  name  was  adopted  from  the 
Zuni  pronunciation.  The  native  name  for  the  village  is 
Ah-ko  or  Stche-ahko,  a  contraction  of  the  word  >Stche-ah- 
ko-ki  or  Stchuk-ko-ki,  meaning  a  rude  form  of  ladder, 
formed  by  driving  sticks  into  the  crevices  of  a  rock.  The 
Acoma  Indians  have  a  peculiar  habit  of  accenting  cer 
tain  syllables  of  a  word  and  slurring  the  rest.  Thus  it 
may  be  seen  how  the  word  originated. 

From  the  base  to  the  summit  the  rock  of  Acoma  is 
about  300  feet,  in  area  a)bout  sixty  acres.  There  are  at 
least  ten  trails  leading  up  to  the  village  from  the  valley 
below,  two  of  which  it  is  practical  to  ride  on  horseback. 

The  date  of  the  first  settlement  of  Acoma  lies  away 
back  in  the  dim  past.  There  was  a  tradition  among  them 
when  the  first  Spaniards  came  into  the  country  that  their 
ancestors  inhabited  a  valley  about  twelve  miles  north  of 
Acoma,  between  the  present  Mexican  village  of  Cubero 
and  Mount  Taylor,  and  that  they  were  compelled  to  aban  - 
don  their  dwellings  here  and  locate  on  the  rock  for  pro 
tection  against  the  constant  raids  of  the  Navajos  and 
Apaches;  this,  they  claimed,  was  300  years  before  the 
coming  of  the  Spaniards.  This  story  is  probable-,  as  there 
are  several  ruins  of  pueblo  villages  in  the  valley. 

Their  stories  and  traditions  show  that  at  one  time 
they  inhabited  the  country  to  the  west  and  south.  There 
are  extensive  pueblo  ruins  in  these  parts  not  many  miles 
distant  from  Acoma;  the  inhabitants,  no  doubt,  being 
compelled  to  flee  to  the  rock  for  mutual  protection  against 
their  warlike  neighbors. 

One  of  the  most  notable  sights  in  the  vicinity  of 
Acoma  is  the  enchanted  mesa,  430  feet  from  base  to  sum 
mit,  with  an  area  on  top  of  about  twelve  acres.  The 


AUTHENTIC    HISTORY  17 

Indian  name  for  this  gigantic  rock  is  Kut-se-nmh,  mean 
ing  he  who  stands  in  the  door.  The  walls  are  precipitous, 
but  there  is  one  place  where  it  is  practicable  to  climb 
to  the  top  by  the  aid  of  ladders.  It  is  not  probable  that 
this  butte  was  ever  inhabited. 

Although  Fray  Marcos  de  Niza  was  the  first  white 
man  to  visit  Zuni  and  the  first  to  give  to  the  world  a  def 
inite  description  of  Acoma  or  Hacus,  as  he  called  the 
village,  Coronado 's  soldiers  were  the  first  Europeans  to 
gaze  on  the  wounderful  pueblo,  and  although  most  of  Cor- 
bnado's  army  passed  this  way  on  their  journey  to  the 
Eio  Grande,  Coronado  himself  did  not  see  Acoma  till  two 
years  later,  on  his  way  back  to  Mexico. 

As  these  pueblos  are  closely  associated  with  the 
early  Spanish  history  of  New  Mexico,  I  will  begin  with 
the  first  explorations  in  the  country.  The  history  of  these 
pueblos  is  like  a  trail ;  it  has  its  beginnings  and  endings, 
crooks  and  turns,  forks,  branches  and  crossings ;  in  some 
places  it  is  clear  and  easily  followed,  in  other  places  it  is 
dim  or  totally  obliterated,  and  the  historian  is  compelled 
to  grope  around,  with  no  landmarks  to  guide  him,  nothing 
but  a  few  fragments  of  tradition  scattered  here  and  there 
at  long  intervals.  The  authentic  history  of  Laguna  and 
Acoma  begins  with  Coronado 's  expedition  at  Zuni.  On 
August  29,  1540,  Coronado  sent  Alvarado  with  a  com 
pany  of  twenty  men  to  explore  the  country  to  the  east, 
taking  as  guide  the  war  captain  of  Pecos,  who,  with  two 
companions,  had  come  to  Zuni  to  see  the  white  men.  The 
soldiers  named  the  war  captain  "Bigotes,"  meaning 
"Mustaches."  The  instructions  to  Alvarado  were  to  re 
turn  in  eighty  days,  but,  arriving  at  the  Eio  Grande  and 
exploring  the  country  quite  thoroughly,  he  sent  a  messen 
ger  back  with  the  report  which  we  have  already  seen. 
About  this  time  word  was  received  that  Tristan  de  Arel- 
lanes  would  soon  arrive  with  reinforcements  and  fresh 
supplies  from  Sonora,  so  Coronado  decided  to  move  on 


18  SCHAT-CHEN 

to  the  river.  With  this  end  in  view  he  dispatched  Garcia 
Lopez  de  Cardenas  to  intercept  Alvarado  on  his  return 
and  pick  out  a  suitable  place  to  camp  the  army  for  the 
winter.  As  soon  as  Arellanes  arrived  Coronado  placed 
him  in  command,  with  instructions  to  move  on  to  the 
river,  after  resting  the  army  twenty  days,  while  Coro 
nado  himself,  with  a  company  of  thirty  men,  instead  of 
following  the  direct  route  which  Alvarado  had  traveled, 
diverged  to  the  south  of  Acoma  in  order  to  explore  the 
country  and  visit  a  group  of  six  or  eight  pueblos,  at  that 
time  supposed  to  have  been  inhabited,  to  the  southeast  of 
Zuni. 

After  a  journey  of  eight  days  of  hardships,  occa 
sioned  by  cold  and  lack  of  water,  Coronado  and  his  little 
band  reached  the  Rio  Grande,  near  Isleta,  and  soon  after 
joined  Alvarado  and  Cardenas,  twenty-four  miles  further 
north.  The  winter  of  1540-41  seemed  to  have  been  very 
severe,  but  the  Spanish  suffered  very  little  from  the  cold, 
being  domiciled  in  comfortable  houses.  Castenada  says : 
"As  it  was  necessary  that  the  Indians  should  give  the 
Spaniards  lodging  places,  the  people  in  one  village  had  to 
abandon  it  and  go  to  others  belonging  to  their  friends, 
and  they  took  nothing  with  them  but  themselves  and  the 
clothing  they  had  on."  But  the  Spaniards'  clothing  was 
wearing  out  and  to  provide  new  wearing  apparel  for  his 
soldiers  Coronado  ordered  the  governor  of  Tiguex,  a 
large  pueblo  close  to  where  the  army  was  encamped,  to 
furnish  300  or  more  pieces  of  suitable  cotton  cloth.  The 
governor  agreed  to  furnish  what  cloth  his  people  could 
spare,  but  suggested  that  the  levy  be  divided  among  the 
different  pueblos.  Acting  on  this  suggestion,  Coronado 
sent  his  soldiers  up  and  down  the  valley  to  collect  the 
cloth.  This  turned  out  to  be  nothing  less  than  a  foraging 
expedition.  Instead  of  taking  what  was  given,  the 
soldiers  took  what  they  wanted.  At  one  of  the  towns  a 
Spaniard  got  into  trouble  over  a  woman,  the  wife  of 


AUTHENTIC    HISTORY  19 

one  of  the  principal  men  of  the  village.  The  Indians 
brought  this  grievance  before  the  commander,  but  failed 
to  obtain  satisfaction.  Concluding  that  there  was  no 
1  justice  to  be  expected  from  the  Spaniards  they  decided  on 
a  bold  move,  and  one  which,  had  it  been  successful,  would 
have  seriously  effected  the  Spaniards.  This  was  to  drive 
the  horses  of  the  expedition  inside  the  fortifications  of 
Tiguex.  /This  village  was  surrounded  by  a  palisade  or 
picket  fence  of  cedar  posts.  In  getting  possession  of  the 
horses  one  of  the  Indian  herders  was  killed,  but  the  other 
escaped  and  gave  the  alarm  to  the  Spaniards,  who  came 
in  a  body  to  the  rescue  of  their  animals.  The  pueblos 
were  forced  to  abandon  the  greater  part  of  the  herd,  but 
a  few  of  the  horses  were  rushed  into  the  enclosure  and 
the  gates  hastily  barred.  The  next  day  some  of  the 
Spaniards  went  to  the  village  to  see  about  their  horses. 
The  Indians  refused  to  allow  them  to  enter  the  fortifica 
tions.  The  horses  were  being  chased  around  and  shot 
with  arrows. 

One  account  says  that  forty  head  of  horses  and  seven 
head  of  the  general's  mules  were  killed  at  this  time  by 
the  Indians.  The  Spaniards  then  attacked  the  town,  but 
on  account  of  its  being  so  well  fortified  they  could  ac 
complish  nothing.  The  general  then  ordered  his  soldiers, 
under  Cardenas,  to  attack  another  town  close  to  Tiguex, 
but  not  so  well  fortified.  The  fight  lasted  two  days  and 
nights,  and  then,  under  promise  of  fair  treatment,  the 
Pueblos  surrendered.  The  instructions  to  Cardenas  were 
to  make  an  example  of  the  Indians,  so  as  to  intimidate 
the  rest  of  the  natives  and  make  them  fear  the  Spaniards. 
Accordingly  he  had  200  of  them  burned  at  the  stake, 
The  rest  of  the  Pueblos,  whom  the  Spaniards  had  under 
guard,  seeing  the  fate  of  their  companions,  broke  away 
from  their  captors,  but  were  pursued  by  the  horsemen 
and  slain  to  a  man. 

The  same  day  that  this  tragedy  happened  the  main 


20  SCHAT-CHEN 

body  of  the  army,  under  Tristan  de  Arellanes,  arrived 
from  Zuni.  Intercourse  between  the  Pueblos  and  the 
Spaniards  was  suspended.  For  nearly  two  months  the 
army  remained  in  its  quarters,  partly  for  this  reason  and 
partly  on  account  of  the  snow  and  cold  weather.  The 
order  which  had  been  executed  by  Cardenas  had  its  effect. 
The  natives  were  suspicious  and  afraid  of  the  ^Spaniards 
and  refused  all  attempts  at  communication  volunteered 
by  the  white  men,  especially  at  the  village  of  Tiguex.  As 
time  passed  the  Spaniards  became  restless  and  wished  to 
restore  friendly  relations  and  confidence  with  the  natives. 
For  this  reason  Cardenas,  with  a  guard  of  thirty  men, 
went  to  the  village  of  Tiguex  to  have  a  talk  with  the 
principal  men.  The  governor  and  one  man  agreed  to 
meet  him  outside  the  village,  provided  he  came  alone  and 
unarmed.  This  was  complied  with,  and  when  the  three 
had  come  together  the  governor  seized  Cardenas,  while 
his  companion  struck  him  twice  on  the  head  with  a  club 
which  he  had  brought  concealed  under  his  blanket.  The 
guards,  seeing  their  chief  in  danger,  rode  hastily  up  and 
rescued  him,  while  the  two  Indians  retreated  to  the  shel 
ter  of  the  village,  the  inhabitants  meanwhile  pouring  a 
shower  of  arrows  on  the  Spaniards,  but  without  doing 
any  severe  damage.  Coronado  then  ordered  an  attack 
on  Tiguex,  but  on  account  of  its  fortified  condition  and 
the  fierce  resistance  of  the  Indians  he  changed  his  tactics 
and  settled  down  to  besiege  the  town,  well  knowing  that 
in  time  the  natives  would  be  compelled  to  surrender.  The 
siege  lasted  fifty  days.  The  lack  of  water  at  last  deter 
mined  the  Indians  to  abandon  the  town.  This  was  done 
one  dark  night,  but  they  were  discovered  and  the  sentries 
gave  the  alarm,  and  a  fierce  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued,  in 
which  nearly  all  the  Indians  were  killed  or  forced  to  jump 
into  the  river  and  were  drowned.  What  few  escaped 
were  captured  the  next  day  and  forced  into  slavery. 

I  have  related  how  the  war  captain  acted  as  guide  for 


AUTHENTIC    HISTORY  21 

Alvarado  to  the  Eio  Grande,  and  from  there  to  Pecos, 
where  the  Spaniards  were  royally  received.  There  at  the 
village  of  Pecos  Alvarado  met  an  Indian  of  a  different 
tribe,  a  foreigner.  The  Spaniards  gave  him  the  name  of 
Turk,  on  account  of  his  peculiar  head-dress.  He  enter 
tained  his  eager  listeners  with  wonderful  stories  of  a  land 
far  to  the  east,  which  he  called  ' '  Quivira, ' '  and  the  fan 
tastic  imagination  of  the  Spaniards  easily  pictured  a  land 
far  richer  than  Hernando  Cortez  had  found  in  Mexico, 
or  Francisco  Pizarro  in  Peru.  The  Turk  accompanied 
Alvarado 's  command  back  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  when 
Coronado  arrived  and  heard  the  stories  the  Turk  was 
the  lion  of  the  hour;  nothing  was  talked  of  but  the  land 
of  "Quivira"  and  the  great  treasures  of  gold  and  silver 
which  the  Turk  described. 

The  Turk  claimed  that  he  had  brought  some  trinkets 
of  gold  and  silver  and  that  the  people  of  Pecos  had  taken 
them  away  from  him.  To  obtain  these  trinkets  Coronado 
sent  Alvarado  with  a  small  squad  of  men  back  to  Pecos. 
The  people  of  the  village  solemnly  denied  ever  having 
seen  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  Turk.  Unable  to  get  what 
he  was  sent  for,  he  succeeded  in  arresting  the  governor 
and  his  war  captain  and  took  them  to  the  army  headquar 
ters,  and  during  all  this  time  they  were  held  as  close  pris 
oners  by  order  of  Coronado.  The  historian  tells  us  how, 
after  keeping  these  two  Indians  prisoners  for  six  months, 
they  finally  turned  them  loose,  and  then  the  expedition 
started  on  that  grand  march,  with  the  Turk  as  guide,  in 
search  of  the  '" Quivira/'  across  the  seemingly  boundless 
plains  of  Kansas,  and  after  reaching  somewhere  near  the 
south  boundary  of  Nebraska,  they  strangled  the  unfortu 
nate  Turk,  thinking  that  he  had  deceived  them,  and  then 
returned  to  the  land  of  the  Pueblos. 

It  is  possible  that  the  Turk  was  sincere  and  was 
leading  the  Spaniards  to  the  great  copper  deposits  of 
Lake  Superior.  Although  Pedro  de  Tobar  had  arrived 


22  SCHAT-CHEN 

with  supplies  and  reinforcements  to  assist  Coronado-  in 
his  search  for  the  "Quivira,"  the  general  decided  to  re 
turn,  and  after  giving  the  army  a  brief  rest,  conducted  the 
expedition  back  to  Mexico,  passing  by  Acoina  and  the 
present  site  of  Laguna  in  the  year  1542. 

Almost  half  a  century  passes  before  we  again  hear 
of  this  country.  The  reports  brought  back  by  the  expedi- 
ton  of  Coronado  were  not  reassuring,  and  few  cared  to 
brave  the  cold,  the  drought,  the  storms  and  the  priva 
tions  which  seemed  the  only  reward  to  (be  gained;  but 
among  these  few  were  yet  stout  hearts  willing  to  plunge 
into  the  wilderness  of  what  is  now  New  Mexico  and  Ari 
zona  for  the  sake  of  science  and  their  religious  faith. 
Among  these  was  Antonio  Espejo,  who  commanded  an 
expedition  to  New  Mexico  in  1582.  This  expedition  was 
organized  by  Fray  Bernardino  Beltran  for  this  purpose, 
and  for  which  he  obtained  permission  from  the  viceroy 
of  Mexico  to  rescue  or  determine  the  fate  of  three  priests 
— Augustino  Bodrigues,  Juan  de  Santa  Maria  and  Fran 
cisco  Lopez — who  had  come  to  the  Pueblos  the  summer 
previous  with  a  small  escort  of  twenty-eight  men,  under 
the  command  of  Sanchez  Chamuscado ;  the  priests  with 
their  servants  remaining  among  the  Indians  while  the 
escort  was  sent  back  to  Mexico.  A  short  time  after, 
however,  two  of  the  servants  appeared  in  Mexico  and  re 
ported  that  the  priests  had  been  assassinated,  and  to 
determine  the  truth  this  expedition  started  toward  the 
north,  following  the  Eio  Grande,  or  as  near  to  it  as  prac 
tical.  Arriving  at  the  pueblo  of  Tiguex,  which  Espejo 
calls  Paola,  in  the  winter  of  1582,  they  learned  that  the 
report  which  the  servants  had  circulated  in  Mexico  was 
true. 


ESPEJO  AND  BELTRAN 

Espejo  and  Beltran  then  turned  their  attention  to 
exploring  the  country,  visiting  Acoma,  Zuni  and  the 
Moqui  villages,  and  going  as  far  west  as  where  the  town 
of  Flagstaff  now  stands.  From  there  they  returned, 
passing  by  Zuni,  Acoma  and  the  present  site  of  Laguna, 
in  the  early  summer  of  1!>83,  and  after  visiting  a  few 
more  of  the  Pueblos  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Eio  Grande 
the  explorers  continued  on  to  the  Pecos  village,  where 
their  reception  was  not  very  cordial,  but  nothing  occurred 
to  mar  the  record  of  the  expedition.  From  here  they  fol 
lowed  the  Pecos  river  to  its  junction  with  the  Eio  Grande, 
and  thence  to  Mexico. 

f  Espejo  and  Beltran  were  men  of  intelligence  and 
humane  principles.  The  account  of  their  expedition  is  a 
bright  page  in  history,  not  like  that  of  Coronado  and 
some  others,  who  came  later,  who  left  to  posterity  a  rec 
ord  stained  with  blood.  Espejo  was  the  first  to  give  to 
the  world  an  exact  and  minute  account  of  the  country 
and  its  inhabitants.  He  says:  "Here  we  found  houses 
very  well  built,  with  gallant  lodgings,  and  in  most  of 
them  were  stoves  (fireplaces  probably)  for  the  winter 
season.  Their  garments  were  of  cotton  and  deerskins 
and  the  attire  both  of  men  and  women  was  after  the  man 
ner  of  the  Indians  of  Mexico.  But  the  strangest  thing 
of  all  was  to  see  both  men  and  women  wear  shoes  and 
boots  with  good  soles  of  neat's  leather,  a  thing  which 
we  never  saw  in  any  other  part  of  Mexico.  The  women 
keep  their  hair  well  combed  and  dressed,  wearing  nothing 
else  on  their  heads.  In  all  these  towns  they  had  caciques, 
people  like  the  caciques  of  Mexico,  with  sergeants,  to 
execute  their  commands,  who  go  through  the  town  pro 
claiming  with  a  loud  voice  the  pleasure  of  the  cacique, 
commanding  the  same  to  be  put  into  execution.  The 


A  QUERES  WOMAN  IN  NATIVE  COSTUME 


ESPEJO    AND    BELTKAN  25 

weapons  they  use  are  strong  bows  with  arrows  headed 
with  flint,  which  will  pierce  through  a  coat  of  mail,  and 
macanas,  which  are  clubs  of  half  a  yard  to  a  yard  long, 
so  set  with  sharp  flints  that  they  are  sufficient  to  cleave 
a  man  asunder  in  the  midst.  They  also  use  a  kind  of 
shield  made  of  rawhide, ' '  It  is  a  peculiar  fact  that  with 
in  the  last  100  years  many  of  the  arts  practiced  by  the 
Pueblo  Indians  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion  have 
been  discontinued  or  lost. 

One  of  these  was  the  tanning  of  leather.  At  Laguna 
the  first  settlers  understood  the  art,  as  the  old  vats  in  the 
sandstone  indicate.  This  process  was  accomplished, 
probably,  by  the  aid  of  the  canaigre  root,  a  species  of 
dock,  which  carries  a  large  percentage  of  tannic  acid  and 
which  grows  luxuriantly  in  the  arid  places  of  the  south 
west. 

Another  was  the  raising  of  the  cotton  plant.  This 
was  cultivated  at  Laguna  and  Acoma  and  probably  by 
the  Pueblos  farther  west.  It  is  true  the  climate  is  too 
cold  to  make  much  success  farming  cotton  at  these 
pueblos,  but  it  may  have  been  of  a  more  hardy  variety 
than  that  which  is  now  cultivated  in  the  southern  states. 
The  average  temperature  at  Laguna  and  Acoma  is  about 
60  degrees,  but  subject  to  extreme  variations.  In  the 
winter  the  thermometer  frequently  records  20  degrees 
be]ow  zero,  and  in  summer  very  often  100  degrees  above. 
They  still  do  some  weaving,  such  as  belts  and  legging 
strings  and  a  coarse  woolen  cloth  which  in  color  is  black 
and  used  as  an  outer  garment  by  the  women,  and  worn 
in  the  same  fashion  as  when  Castenada  wrote  his  narra 
tive.  He  says:  "They  wear  long  robes  of  feathers  and 
skins  of  hares  and  cotton  blankets.  The  women  wear 
blankets,  which  they  tie  or  knot  over  the  left  shoulder, 
leaving  the  right  arm  out."  They  also  wove  a  coarse 
cloth  out  of  the  maguey  plant.  This  cloth  was  used  as 
a  background  on  which  to  construct  their  feather  robes. 


26  SCHAT-CHEN 

The  women  wear  heavy  leggings ;  these  leggings  are  of 
buckskins,  wound  several  times  around,  in  some  in 
stances  two  or  three  inches  thick.  The  principal  reason 
for  wearing  them  now  seems  to  be  style,  but  it  may  have 
been  adopted  primarily  to  guard  against  snakes. 

At  Laguna  and  Acoma  were  formerly  large  droves  of 
turkeys ;  they  were  herded  something  after  the  manner  of 
sheep.  They  told  the  Spaniards  that  the  turkeys  were 
reared  for  their  feathers. 

They  had  no  idea  of  the  metals  other  than  the  name. 
Espejo,  being  a  practical  miner,  examined  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  country  over  which  he  traveled  quite 
thoroughly,  considering  the  time  he  was  here,  and  speaks 
very  flatteringly  of  the  mineral  deposits;  not  quite  so 
enthusiastically,  however,  as  Fray  Geronimo  Zarata  de 
Salmeron,  whom  I  will  speak  of  later,  who  says : 

"As  for  saying  that  this  is  a  poor  country,  I  answer 
that  there  has  not  been  discovered  in  the  whole  world  a 
country  of  more  mineral  deposits  than  New  Mexico. " 
When  we  consider  that  at  that  time  New  Mexico  em 
braced  nearly  all  of  the  country  west  of  the  Missouri 
river,  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  Salmeron  was  cor 
rect  in  his  statement.  The  ideas  of  the  early  Spaniards 
with  regard  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  New  Mexico  were 
romantic,  and  would  have  led  one  at  that  time  to  suppose 
that  Midas  had  visited  this  country.  The  seven  cities  of 
Cibola — what  fantastic  dreams  of  gold  and  silver  chased 
each  other  through  the  brains  of  those  old  Spaniards,  and 
when  it  was  discovered  that  those  fabled  cities  were 
nothing  more  than  rude  Indian  villages,  with  houses 
built  of  mud,  with  no  doors  except  a  hole  in  the  roof,  as 
one  writer  says,  "like  the  hatchways  of  ships."  An 
other  mirage  started  up  in  the  distance  to  lure  them  on-- 
The  "Gran  Quivira" — but  still  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  the  most  absurd  tales  of  treasure  in  this  vast 
wilderness  of  the  north  would  find  belief  after  the  dis- 


ESPEJO    AND    BELTRAN  27 

covery  of  such  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  by  Cortez  in 
Mexico  and  Pizarro  in  Peru,  and  this  feverish  craze 
seems  to  have  been  the  principal  incentive  for  most  of 
the  early  explorations  in  this  country.  In  the  year  1862 
there  was  found  in  the  pueblo  of  San  Juan,  forty  miles 
north  of  Santa  Fe,  a  peculiar  old  document  by  Theodore 
Greiner,  at  that  time  agent  for  the  Pueblo  Indians.  It 
Supposes  to  be  a  conversation  between  Cortez  and 
Montezuma.  This  is  the  manuscript  translated  from  the 
Spanish : 

"They  will  respect  and  obey  me  in  whatsoever  I  will 
command,  there  being  nothing  in  my  order  against  you. 
I  will  treat  all  with  much  leniency,  without  prejudice  to 
any.  I  will  teach  them  the  law  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  of 
Heaven,  Him  unto  whom  all  should  render  and  give  in 
finite  thanks  for  the  benefaction  they  are  about  to  re 
ceive  from  the  Children  of  the  Sun ;  that  they  should  ever 
come  to  receive  cheerfully  the  waters  of  baptism  and 
to  which  should  respond  all  the  Indians  who  hold  good 
faith  and  disposition  to  follow  the  Christian  faith. 

"From  this  issued  much  pleasure  and  delight  among 
all  the  people,  dances  taking  place  in  which  there  was 
shown  no  rancor  or  complaint  against  the  Children  of  the 
$un,  and  seeing  this  the  king,  Montezuma,  who  had 
manifested  as  much  joy,  said  to  the  great  Cortez  that,  as 
Ms  children  had  had  so  much  joy  in  being  transferred  to 
his  ( Cortez 's)  control,  he  charged  him  that  he  would 
look  upon  them  and  would  treat  them  with  much  leniency, 
and  would  teach  them  to  warship  the  most  true  God,  to 
which  Cortez  answered  him  that  he  thus  would  act,  for 
which  purpose  they  both  signed  it  in  Mexico  the  same 
date.  After  this  being  signed  Montezuma  commanded  all 
the  Indians  to  present  homage  (render  tribute)  to  the 
great  Cortez,  which  the  Indians  fulfilled,  running  to  their 
places  of  habitation,  some  to  bring  jars  of  gold,  others 
pieces  of  silver,  oth-°rs  pointing  out  the  very  rich  mines 


28  SCHAT-CHEN 

they  had  of  gold  and  silver.  The  young  Indians  pre 
sented  their  baskets  of  fruit  and  eatables  for  all  the 
Children  of  the  Sun.  This  current  of  feeling  and  action 
reached  all  the  Indians.  In  all  the  pueblos  they  came 
to  visit,  nothing  was  hidden.  And  the  great  Cortez  re 
galed  them  with  all  that  was  brought  for  which  reason 
there  was  much  joy,  that  he  saw  for  himself  that  in  being 
subdued  they  had  not  felt  nor  held  complaint,  and  that 
they  were  rather  pleased  with  the  Children  of  the  Sun 
on  being  acquainted.  Montezuma  and  the  great  Cortez 
returned  to  confer.  Montezuma  asked  of  the  latter  that 
he  would  tell  him  how  he  knew  of  this  kingdom,  as  that 
was  what  he  wished  to  make  manifest.  The  great  Cortez 
said:  'Great  monarch,  I  will  tell  you  how  I  came  to 
know  of  the  discovery  of  this  great  kingdom.  There 
was  a  little  schoolgirl  named  Maria  Aguada  de  Jesus  in 
the  convent,  who  was  absent  from  school  for  two  hours. 
Upon  the  mistress  going  to  punish  her  this  said  child 
said  that  if  she  would  not  punish  her  she  would  tell  the 
truth  of  where  she  had  been.  Then  the  mistress  said, 
"Well,  tell  me  where  you  have  been."  Then  she  said  to 
the  mistress:  "In  that  moment  much  water  appeared, 
which  I  saw,  and  I  went  through  it  until  Iwas  able  to 
step  upon  the  other  side,  where  there  was  a  great  king 
dom  in  which  were  many  Indian  dances ;  and  I  saw  a  great 
king  who  had  an  imperial  crown  of  gold  upon  his  head, 
all  emplumed."  Whereupon  the  mistress  went  and  re 
lated  this  to  the  king  of  Spain,  and  as  this  king  now  had 
notice  of  the  king  of  Indians  but  did  not  know  where  he 
was  to  'be  found  until  this  little  girl  discovered  it,  the 
king  ordered  that  she  (the  little  child)  should  take  three 
days'  time  to  arrive  and  bring  with  her  the  plumes  of 
that  king's  crown  for  certain.  The  child  came  and  the 
king,  being  about  to  go  forth  to  dance,  as  soon  as  he  took 
off  the  crown  the  girl  took  the  plumes  and  went  and  pre 
sented  them  to  the  king  of  Spain. 


ESPE JO    AND    BELTRAN  29 

"  'As  soon  as  the  king  took  hold  of  the  plumes  in 
his  hand,  he  said:  "Eagle  plumes  the  king  of  the  Indians 
wears;  make  diligence  to  know  where  he  is  that  I  may 
engage  to  conquer  him."  Thus  it  was,  great  monarch, 
that  your  kingdom  was  made  known.  Now  I  also  wish 
you  to  answer  me,  concerning  how  mnay  provinces  has 
New  Mexico,  and  mines  of  gold  and  silver?'  The  mon 
arch  said:  'I  will  respond  to  you  forever  as  you  have  to 
me.  I  command  this  province,  which  is  the  first  of  New 
Mexico — the  pueblo  of  Teguayo,  which  governs  one  hun 
dred  and  two  pueblos.  In  this  pueblo  there  is  a  great 
mine  near-by  in  which  they  cut  with  stone  hatchets  the 
gold  of  my  crown.  The  great  province  of  Zuni,  where 
was  born  the  great  Malinche.  This  pueblo  is  very  large, 
increasing  in  Indians  of  light  complexion,  who  are  gov 
erned  well.  In  this  province  is  a  silver  mine  and  this 
caiptal  controls  eighteen  pueblos.  The  province  of  the 
Moqui ;  the  province  of  the  Navajos ;  the  great  province  of 
the  Grand  Quivira  that  governs  the  pueblos  of  the  Queres 
and  the  Tanos.  These  provinces  have  different  tongues, 
which  only  La  Malinche  understands.  The  province  of 
Acoma,  in  which  there  is  a  blackish-colored  hill  in  which 
there  is  found  a  silver  mine/  Seeing  this,  the  great 
monarch  sent  Malinche  to  these  provinces  of  New  Mex 
ico  to  the  new  conquests.  And  La  Malinche  conquered 
and  took  possession  of  the  part  in  which  were  all  in  the 
best  disposition  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  the  great 
monarch,  for  which  he  commanded  it  to  the  Spaniards 
who  entered  to  locate  their  missions." 

There  doesn't  seem  to  be  anything  particularly  re 
markable  about  this  old  manuscript  but  nonsense,  except 
where  it  speaks  of:  "The  province  of  Acoma,  in  which 
there  is  a  blackish-colored  hill  in  which  there  is  found  a 
silver  mine." 

Aside  from  tradition,  which  has  mythical  mines  of 
gold  and  silver  scattered  all  over  New  Mexico,  Arizona 


30  SCHAT-CHEN 

and  California,  it  looks  like  there  may  be  something  in 
this  story,  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Acoma. 

Here  is  a  letter  which  may  have  some  bearing  on 
the  subject.  It  explains  itself,  barring  probably  a  slight 
introduction.  Col.  W.  Gr.  Marmon,  to  whom  the  letter 
was  written,  came  to  this  country  in  1868  and  married 
into  the  Laguna  tribe,  and  was  therefore  a  member  of 
the  pueblo.  William  Brockway,  who  wrote  the  letter, 
was  employed  by  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific  Eailroad  Com 
pany  as  foreman  on  a  work  train : 

"July  18,  1889. 

"Pursuant  to  our  agreement,  entered  into  July  1st, 
1889,  regarding  a  silver  mine  in  Valencia  county,  N.  M., 
I  will  endeavor  to  give  you  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  the 
finding  of  this  mineral.  It  will  necessarily  be  a  long  story 
to  make  the  matter  plain  to  you,  but  I  will  make  it  as  brief 
as  possible.  During  the  winter  and  spring  and  up  to 
July  1st,  1882,  I  was  employed  on  the  A.  &  P.  E.  E.  as 
foreman  of  a  work  train.  I  had  with  me  as  timekeeper 
and  operator  Matt  Daly,  who  was  given  the  mineral  by 
an  Indian  at  McCarties  station.  We  were  laying  at  Mc- 
Carties  and  working  between  Bluewater  and  Eio 
Puerco.  Daly  showed  me  the  mineral  about  the  time  it 
was  given  him.  We  were  all  this  time  like  two  brothers, 
sleeping  together  and  everything,  but  the  exact  location 
of  this  mineral  I  was  knowing  to.  He  showed  me  the 
mineral  at  once.  It  looks  just  as  if  silver  and  lead  had 
been  melted  and  run  together.  It  is  as  dark  through  as 
lead  or  darker,  in  thin  pieces,  but  cuts  bright  with  a 
knife;  it  is  in  exactly  the  form  of  melted  lead.  I  con 
sidered  this  a  freak  of  nature,  a  blow-out  of  an  ore  chim 
ney  at  a  time  of  immense  heat  and  eruption.  I  finally 
got  him  to  have  it  assayed.  He  sent  a  piece  to  Burling- 
ame — Denver — and  got  a  return  of  $800,  and  a  little 
more,  to  the  ton.  He  would  not  believe  it  and  sent 
samples  to  San  Francisco  and  Socorro  and  they  all 


ESPEJO    AND    BELTRAN  31 

agreed  closer  than  usual  in  assays.  He  was  then  satis 
fied  he  had  a  good  thing  and  told  me  considerably  of  his 
past  mining  experience  and  said  he  had  been  beat  out 
of  the  only  good  claims  he  ever  had  in  Leadville  and  the 
Black  Hills  and  was  bound  no  one  should  know  of  the 
locality  of  this  mineral  until  he  was  sure  of  his  location. 
He  made  no  location,  as  he  was  in  error  regarding  lo 
cating  on  Indian  land,  on  account  of  being  all  through 
the  Black  Hills  campaign  with  Crook  and  saw  the  gov 
ernment  would  not  let  any  whites  locate  on  Indian  land. 
His  idea  then  was  to  go  to  Washington;  he  had  a  friend, 
Congressman  Boss  of  Ohio,  who  had  been  an  operator 
with  him  when  they  were  boys  together.  He  told  me 
repeatedly  that  all  he  wanted  was  a  very  narrow  strip 
from  the  side  or  end  of  the  grant ;  that  the  mineral  was 
just  inside  of  the  grant  line.  I  at  this  time  never  had 
any  doubts  or  thoughts  of  it  being  anywhere  but  on  the 
Acoma  grant,  nor  ever  have  since.  It  was  mutually  un 
derstood  between  us  that  it  was  there.  The  mineral  was 
given  him  at  McCarties.  It  was  from  there  he  went  to 
the  place,  never  being  gone  long  enough  to  go  any  dis 
tance.  The  fact  of  his  wanting  this  map  shows  it  was 
not  on  the  Navajo  reservation,  although  I  was  with  him 
in  the  cashier's — Deni son's — office  when  he  told  Joe 
Allen,  a  relative  of  Drnison's,  that  if  he  (Allen)  insisted 
upon  it,  that  it  was  on  the  Navajo  reservation,  he  could 
have  it  so.  Joe  Allen  worked  on  Matt  two  or  three  days 
and  I  guess  started  him  on  the  drunk  in  order  to  get 
the  information  from  him.  You  have  probably  heard  of 
this  story  and  of  their  hunting  the  Navajo  country  high 
and  low  for  this  mineral.  I  know  that  Matt  was  never 
on  or  near  the  Navajo  reservation  and  that  was  how  he 
came  to  admit  to  Allpn  +hnt  it  was  in  the  Navajo  reserva 
tion,  just  to  put  him  off.  I  believe  I  have  seen  the 
Indian  at  McCarties  station  that  gave  Matt  the  mineral. 
He  used  to  hang  around  the  boarding  cars.  I  don't 


32  SCHAT-CHEN 

know  as  he  lives  right  there  at  the  station.  Also  Matt 
told  me  of  an  Indian  at  Bibo's  store  at  Grants  taking  a 
piece  of  this  mineral  as  big  or  bigger  than  your  hand 
out  of  the  top  of  a  sack  of  wool.  He  bought  it  of  the 
Indian  and  buried  it,  so  he  told  me.  We  were  ordered 
into  town  the  last  day  of  June,  '82,  to  disband  our  outfit. 
Matt  and  I  roomed  together  at  LilwalPs  on  Front  street. 
He  had  said  before  this  that  he  would  start  for  Washing 
ton  when  we  got  through  with  the  work  or  job  we  were 
at.  On  July  5th  or  6th  he  started,  on  the  night  of  the 
third  he  got  on  the  drunk  that  finally  caused  his  death 
in  Elmira,  N.  Y.  I  said  to  him  the  night  of  the  4th  in 
the  room  at  LilwalPs,  when  I  saw  he  was  on  the  drunk, 
that  I  proposed  going  east  with  him.  He  would  not  hear 
to  it,  said  he  wanted  me  to  stay  right  where  I  was  and 
watch  things  and  see  that  no  one  got  onto  it  while  he 
was  gone  and  that  I  should  consider  myself  a  partner 
in  it.  He  would  have  told  me  where  it  was,  that  is  the 
exact  location,  but  I  said  no,  that  if  anyone  should  get 
onto  it  while  he  was  away  I  might  be  blamed  for  it,  and 
I  would  rather  not  know  it;  of  course  being  distinctly 
understood  always  that  it  was  in  the  neighborhood  of 
where  he  was  given  the  mineral.  I  said  to  him:  "Now, 
Matt,  between  you  and  me  as  partners  in  this  matter,  is 
there  enough  in  this  to  justify  you  in  going  V9  He  said 
there  was  not  sacks  nor  teams  enough  in  Albuquerque 
to  haul  away  what  was  just  buried  under  the  sand  all 
ready  to  sack  up.  He  said  it  was  covered  up  by  sand 
but  you  could  kick  it  out  of  the  sand  or  soil  with  your 
foot.  He  kept  on  the  drunk  all  the  way  east  and  died  in 
Elmira,  N.  Y.,  from  exhaustion  and  delirium.  The  map 
I  send  with  this  is  the  one  I  gave  him  at  LilwalPs.  I 
have  marked  a  few  locations  I  wanted  to  look  up,  the  line 
running  northwest  and  southeast  is  on  a  dike  of  trap 
rock,  but  I  think  you  would  do  better  to  hunt  among  the 


ESPEJO    AND   BELTRAN  33 

Indians  for  lead.  It  was  my  intention  to  hunt  this  up 
myself.  I  have  been  at  McCarties  twice  about  six  years 
ago  for  that  purpose,  but  could  only  stay  a  day  or  two  and 
could  do  nothing.  I  got  the  job  at  El  Eito  in  hopes  of 
being  transferred  to  McCarties " 

It  appears  from  this  old  document  that  the  name 
Zuni  originated  and  was  applied  to  these  Indians  at  that 
early  date.  The  name  is  a  construction  of  a  Queres 
word,  Se-un-ne,  meaning  acquainted.  The  Zuni  name  for 
themselves  is  iShe-we. 

The  first  Spanish  explorers  in  this  country  called 
them  "Cibola."  The  Queres  language  has  given  several 
words  to  the  English  vocabulary — Coconino,  the  name 
of  a  county  in  Arizona,  The  word  is  a  modification  of 
Co-ne-ne,  a  name  applied  to  the  Supai  Indians,  inhabit 
ing  a  branch  of  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado.  The 
name  means  nearly  the  opposite  of  the  word  for  Zuni ;  as 
generally  applied  it  means  a  person  who  is  dull,  or  very 
reserved,  or  hard  to  get  along  with. 


STANDING  ROCK  NEAR  THE  VILLAGE  OF  ACOMA 


JUAN  DE  ONATE,  FIRST  GOVERNOR 
OF  THE  PROVINCE 

In  the  early  spring  of  the  year  1598,  Juan  de  Onate 
entered  the  province  of  New  Mexico  with  a  command  of 
201  men,  taking  formal  possession  and  assuming  control 
as  first  governor  of  the  territory,  commissioned  by  Count 
de  Monterey,  viceroy  of  Mexico.  Going  as  far  north  as 
the  pueblo  of  San  Juan,  close  to  where  the  Rio  Chama 
enters  the  Eio  Grande,  here  he  established  his  headquar 
ters  and  base  of  supplies,  naming  the  new  settlement  San 
Gabriel.  Onate  entered  upon  the  work  with  an  energy 
Worthy  of  the  time,  visiting  all  the  pueblos  of  New  Mex 
ico,  and  even  those  in  what  is  now  the  territory  of  Ari 
zona,  the  first  year,  receiving  from  each  their  oath  of 
allegiance  and  obedience  to  Spain.  It  was  Onate 's  wish 
and  cherished  ambition  to  explore  the  country  to  the 
west,  as  far  as  the  coast,  and  as  everything  seemed  tran 
quil,  he  decided  to  carry  his  wish  into  effect.  Going 
ahead  with  a  small  company,  intending  to  rendezvous  at 
a  certain  place  in  Arizona  where  Juan  de  Zaldivar  with 
reinforcements  should  join  him  later.  It  had  been  noticed 
that  the  cacique  or  governor  of  Acoma,  Zuta-kapan  (the 
name  probably  a  constrtuction  of  Seutchene-kapana, 
meaning  I  gave  him  pancakes),  was  one  of  the  very  last 
to  come  before  the  governor  and  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
gience,  and  this  was  done  in  a  sullen  manner.  But  at  this 
time  Onate  considered  the  occurrence  not  wortty  of  se 
rious  thought.  The  oath  was  taken  on  October  27,  1598. 
On  December  4,  just  a  month  and  8  days  later,  Zaldivar 
and  his  companions  arrived  at  Acoma,  and  camped  at  the 
foot  of  the  rock.  The  Spaniards  confiding  in  the  appar- 
rent  friendship  of  the  Indians,  climbed  the  steep  trail  and 
were  scattered  through  the  village  in  small  groups,  when 


36  SCHAT-CHElsT 

all  at  once  without  a  moment's  warning,  the  Indians 
rushed  upon  them  and  hand-to-hand  the  Spaniards  fought 
for  their  lives,  but  the  numbers  were  against  them.  Zal- 
divar  was  killed  by  Zutakapan  with  a  club.  Besides 
Zaldivar,  10  of  his  men  fell  before  the  fury  of  the  In 
dians.  Two  servants  were  thrown  into  the  crevices  of 
the  rock  and  perished  there.  Five  of  the  soldiers  jumped 
from  the  rock  to  the  valley  below;  one  lost  his  life  and 
thex)ther  four  escaped  with  slight  injuries.  These  car 
ried  the  news  back  to  Onate,  who,  hearing  of  the  trouble 
had  returned  to  San  Gabriel.  He  immediately  dispatched 
Vicente  de  Zaldivar  with  70  men  to  punish  the  Acomas 
and  quell  the  revolt.  On  January  21  the  Spaniards  ap 
peared  before  the  pueblo  of  Acoma.  On  the  22nd  they 
began  the  attack,  fighting  two  days  and  one  night  before 
the  Indians  surrendered.  Of  the  3,000  inhabitants  of 
the  village  but  600  remained.  These  were  compelled  by 
the  Spaniards  to  abandon  the  village  on  the  rock  and 
build  habitations  in  the  valley,  the  old  town  being  de 
stroyed  and  the  fortification  torn  down.  Onate 's  account 
of  this  is  certainly  exagerated,  not  only  with  regard  to 
the  number  of  inhabitants,  but  other  things. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  Acoma  mesa  is  a  detached 
portion  with  quite  a  wide  space  separating  it  from  the 
main  rock  on  which  the  village  stands,  except  at  one  place 
where  it  narrows  down,  forming  a  possible  crossing.  It 
is  said  that  after  the  Spaniards  had  gained  possession  of 
this  rock,  Vincente  de  Zaldivar  clad  in  a  full  suit  of  mail 
jumped  across  this  chasm.  But  this  circumstance  should 
go  a  long  way  towards  expelling  any  doubt  as  to  the  loca 
tion. 

Some  historians  think  that  the  description  of  the 
place  where  the  fight  took  place,  as  given  by  Onate,  is 
not  applicable  to  Acoma,  and  that  it  is  a  question  whether 
this  trouble  did  not  occur  at  some  other  village  similarly 
situated.  The  Acoma  Indians  have  no  tradition  of  this 


JUAN    DE    ONATE  37 

particular  fight  or  that  the  town  was  ever  destroyed,  nor 
does  the  old  village  show  any  evidence  of  having  once 
been  torn  down,  and  there  is  no  indication  of  any  set 
tlement  having  been  made  in  the  valley  near  the  Acoma 
mesa.  It  is  possible  that  Zaldivar  and  his  companions 
mistook  some  other  pueblo  for  the  real  Acoma. 

To  the  west  of  Acoma  and  within  a  radius  of  15  to 
20  miles  are  the  ruins  of  several  different  pueblos,  some 
of  these  like  Acoma  and  similarly  located,  one  in  partic 
ular,  about  16  miles  west  of  the  pueblo.  Here  are  the  ruins 
of  a  village,  or  rather  two  villages,  close  together,  on  a 
rock  of  about  the  same  dimensions  as  that  of  Acoma. 
The  place  is  known  to  the  Americans  as  the  i  i  Montezuma 
mesa"  and  to  the  Acoma  and  Laguna  Indians  as  the 
Aut-sin-ish,  meaning  "like  a  woman's  dress."  The  ruins 
appear  as  though  the  village  had  been  destroyed  by  some 
other  force  than  the  slow  disintegration  that  time  pro 
duces. 

To  jump  from  either  Acoma  or  this  rock  would  be 
equally  dangerous.  At  the  foot  of  the  mesa  in  the  valley 
are  the  ruins  of  a  compact  village,  which  might  corre 
spond  to  the  dwellings  which  the  Spaniards  compelled 
the  Indians  to  build  after  the  village  on  the  rock  was  de 
stroyed. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  1604,  Onate,  accompanied  by 
32  men,  sallied  forth  on  his  last  trip  of  exploration  that 
history  records.  This  was  the  second  attempt  to  clear 
away  the  mists  that  veiled  the  country  to  the  west. 

Like  the  former  expedition,  in  which  the  brave  Zal 
divar  lost  his  Kfe,  this  came  very  near  ending  disas 
trously.  Passing  by  Acoma  in  the  fall  of  1604,  then  to 
Zuni  and  from  there  to  the  Moqui  pueblos,  thense  south 
west  to  about  where  the  town  of  Prescott  is  located, 
thence  south  to  the  Gila  river,  which  he  followed  to  its 
junction  with  the  Eio  Colorado,  which  stream  he  fol 
lowed  to  its  mouth;  crossing  the  river  here  he  took  for- 


38  SCHAT-CHEN 

mal  possession  of  the  country  to  the  west  in  the  name  of 
Spain. 

On  his  return,  instead  of  retracing  the  route  already 
traveled,  Onate  struck  a  direct  course  northeast  toward 
the  pueblos.  The  expedition  was  launched  almost  im 
mediately  into  a  trackless  desert,  where  thickets  of  cac 
tus  contested  their  march  at  every  step.  They  suffered 
severely  from  lack  of  water.  Their  provisions  became 
exhausted  and  finally  they  were  compelled  to  kill  and 
eat  their  horses  for  food.  The  expedition  at  last  reached 
Zuni  in  a  forlorn  condition  in  the  spring  of  1605.  Onate 
held  the  office  of  governor  until  the  year  1608. 

From  this  date  on  for  72  years  the  history  of  New 
Mexico  is  almost  a  complete  blank.  Santa  Fe  was  settled 
by  Europeans  some  time  between  1605  and  1616.  There 
are  several  reasons  for  this  discrepancy.  Principal 
among  these  was  the  Pueblo  revolt  of  1680.  General 
Antonio  de  Otermin,  who  was  governor  of  New  Mexico 
at  that  time,  may  have  carried  many  of  the  records  away, 
and  these  might  yet  be  found  in  Mexico  or  in  Madrid,  and 
possibly  some  of  them  in  Eome.  What  were  left  were 
destroyed  by  the  infuriated  Indians. 

Another  destruction  of  valuable  records  occurred 
in  1846.  Governor  Manuel  Armijo  allowed  many  val 
uable  records  to  be  used  in  making  cartridges  to  repel 
the  Americans  under  the  command  of  General  Kearney, 
but  were  never  used.  It  was  reported  that  William  A. 
Pile,  who  was  governor  of  the  territory  in  1869-70,  con 
signed  many  valuable  documents,  historical  records  and 
land  papers  to  the  waste  basket,  thinking  no  doubt  that 
was  the  quickest  way  to  settle  the  grant  title  question, 
which  was  even  then,  and  has  been  ever  since,  a  thorn  in 
the  side  of  New  Mexico,  by  retarding  immigration  and 
keeping  the  people  in  isolated  communities  where  igno 
rance  is  the  password.  There  are  many  valuable  church 
records  of  historical  value  still  in  existence.  In  1618  Ger- 


JUAN    DE    ONATE  39 

onimo  de  Zarate  de  Salmeron  was  appointed  first  parish 
priest  of  the  pueblos,  embracing  Jemez,  Zia  and  Acoma, 
consequently  visiting  the  latter  many  times.  He  returned 
to  Mexico,  where  he  lived  to  write  a  valuable  work,  en 
titled  Relaciones.  Acoma,  ever  a  rebellious  factor,  re 
volted  against  the  Spanish  rule  in  1629  and  again  in  1645. 

In  the  year  1650  the  Pueblo  Indians  were  on  the 
verge  of  a  grand  rebellion,  faint  rumblings  of  the  storm 
which  30  years  later  swept  the  Spaniards  from  the  coun 
try.  A  priest  by  the  name  of  Juan  Ramirez  lived  in 
Acoma  during  the  decade  1650-60  and  returned  to  Mex 
ico,  where  he  died  in  the  year  1664.  The  Acomas,  who 
from  the  first  defied  the  authority  of  the  Spanish  soldiers, 
allowed  the  priests  to  come  among  them  unmolested, 
and  had  these  old  generals  used  a  milder  form  of  per 
suasion  to  bring  the  Pueblo  Indians  under  subjection 
than  the  force  of  gunpowder,  the  sword,  and  the  battle- 
axe,  I  would  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  there  would 
have  been  little  trouble  with  these  people. 

Nearly  all  who  wrote  at  this  time  of  the  Pueblos  tes 
tify  to  the  amity  of  their  disposition.  Alvarado  says, 
"The  people  have  a  good  appearance,  more  like  laborers 
than  a  war-like  race."  Castaneda  says,  "These  people 
are  not  cruel.'7  Jaramillo  says,  "All  these  Indians,  ex 
cept  the  first  in  the  first  village  of  Cibola,  received  us 
well." 


THE  POPE  REBELLION 

The  coming  of  the  bearded  warriors  with  coats  of 
mail  had  been  prophesied  years  before  by  the  Indian 
seers,  and  the  natives  as  a  rule  revered  the  first  of  those 
haughty  Conquistadores  with  a  deference  almost  akin 
to  worship,  but  the  cruel  treatment  in  return  and  the 
heartless  persecution  kindled  a  spark  of  hatred  and 
distrust  which  smouldered  in  the  hearts  of  the  Pueblo 
Indians  for  years,  and  at  last  blazed  forth  in  that 
fierce  fire  of  revenge,  the  great  Pueblo  revolt,  some 
times  called  the  "Pope  rebellion,"  when,  with  but 
probably  a  single  exception,  every  Caucasian  was  put  to 
death  or  driven  from  the  country,  and  for  12  years  the 
Pueblos  held  the  country  against  the  successive  attacks 
of  Otermin,  Eamirez,  Cruzate  and  Posada  and  it  was 
owing  to  enmity  among  the  Pueblos,  which  resulted  in  a 
war,  and  prevented  them  from  acting  in  unity,  that  Diego 
de  Vargas  reconar^rrd  them  in  1691-92. 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among  historians  as 
to  the  cause  of  these  wars  among  the  Pueblos  after  the 
Spaniards  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  country.  I 
will  not  stop  to  debate  the  cause.  Enough  to  say  that 
the  facts  show  it  to  have  been  jealousy  and  rivalry.  This 
rebellion,  which  proved  so  destructive  to  the  Spaniards, 
was  planned  and  generaled  by  a  Tigua  Indian  from 
the  Pueblo  of  San  Juan,  known  to  history  as  Pope,  at 
that  time  a  fugitive  from  justice,  and  living  in  Taos.  The 
word  Pope  is  a  Queres  word,  "you  tell,"  and  it  is  prob 
able  that  he  was  of  Queres  extraction. 

It  was  intended  that  the  general  revolt  should  take 

place  on  the  13th  of  August,  and  plans  laid  accordingly. 

Somewhere  about  the  latter  part  of  June  or  the  first  of 

July  Pope  sent  to  each  of  the  different  Pueblos,  with  the 

exception  of  the  Piros,  who  refused  to  join  the  rebellion, 


THE    POPE    KEBELLION  41 

messengers  with  final  instructions  and  bearing  a  knotted 
cord  for  each  of  the  villages,  each  knot  corresponding 
to  a  day,  and  when  the  last  knot  was  counted  the 
massacre  was  to  begin ;  but  Pope,  hearing  that  the  Span 
iards  were  aware  of  the  contemplated  outbreak,  changed 
the  date  to  three  days  earlier,  and  the  storm  burst  forth 
with  all  its  fury  on  August  10, 1680.  Every  Spaniard  was 
sentenced  to  death,  380  soldiers  and  civilians  and  21 
priests  suffering  that  penalty,  and  all  surviving  Caucas 
ians  were  compelled  to  flee  from  the  country  to  save 
their  lives.  General  Antonio  Otermin,  who  was  governor 
of  New  Mexico  at  that  time,  was  forced  to  abandon  Santa 
Fe,  and  with  a  venom  compounded  of  jealousy,  hatred 
and  ignorance,  every  paper  and  Spanish  document  was 
destroyed.  Churches  were  desecrated,  pillaged  and  torn 
down,  and  mines  that  had  been  worked  by  the  Spaniards 
were  filled  up  and  a  severe  punishment  was  inflicted  on 
anyone  who  should  speak  a  word  of  the  Spanish  language. 
All  marriages  performed  by  the  priests  were  annulled 
and  Spanish  names  cancelled.  Pope  also  decreed  that  all 
villages  which  had  harbored  the  Spaniards  should  be 
abandoned,  and  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  prohibit  the 
planting  of  grain  and  garden  seeds  which  the  Spaniards 
had  introduced.  It  was  further  decreed  that  no  Span 
iard  should  ever  witness  their  custom  dances  or  religious 
ceremonies,  rites,  etc.  To  the  latter  they  adhere  to  the 
present  day. 

When  Otermin  was  driven  from  Santa  Fe,  Pope  be 
came  dictator,  a  good  commander  in  war,  but  a  poor 
executive  and  counsellor  in  time  of  peace. 

Intoxicated  by  his  success,  Pope,  like  Alexander  the 
Great,  imagined  that  he  was  superior  to  mortal  beings 
and  insisted  that  the  Pueblos  pay  him  divine  honors.  The 
Indians  soon  tired  of  this  hero  worship  and  of  certain 
obnoxious  customs  that  he  had  instituted,  and  Pope  was 
deposed  and  Luis  Tupatu,  a  Tano,  of  the  village  of  Pi- 


42  SCHAT-CHEN 

cures,  was  elected  to  his  place,  but  held  the  office  only  a 
short  time,  when  he  was  deposed  and  Pope  reinstated, 
but  he  died  in  1688,  and  Luis  Tupatu  was  again  placed 
in  command.  He  held  the  office  until  he  surrendered  to 
the  authority  of  Diego  de  Vargas  in  1691 ;  but  long  be 
fore  this  the  internal  wars  among  the  tribes  had  severed 
the  bonds  of  union,  and  Pope's  dream  of  an  empire  com 
prising  all  the  Pueblos  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  faded 
like  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  as  the  storm  disappears. 

•In  speculating  on  this  rebellion,  though  tradition  is 
silent  and  history  meager,  it  is  barely  possible  that  La 
iSalle,  that  daring  French  explorer,  or  his  emissaries  had 
more  to  do  with  inciting  this  revolt  than  has  ever  been 
recorded. 

FIKST  SETTLEMENT  or  LAGUNA. 

During  this  period  the  inhabitants  of  the  .pueblo  of 
Cieneguilla,  a  Queres  village  near  Santa  Fe,  abandoned 
their  town  and  moved  in  a  body  to  Laguna.  Others  in 
small  bands  soon  followed  from  the  Queres  villages  Zia, 
Santo  Domingo  and  Cochiti.  About  one-half  mile  south 
west  from  the  pueblo  of  Laguna  are  the  ruins  of  a  small 
village.  This,  according  to  tradition,  is  the  first  settle 
ment  made  at  this  place.  The  town  was  settled  by  In 
dians  from  Acoma  and  called  Koshtea.  They  organized 
an  independent  or  separate  government  of  their  own*. 
This  led  to  trouble  with  the  parent  town,  Acoma,  culmi 
nating  in  a  series  of  fights.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the 
Queres  Indians  around  Santa  Fe  were  leaving  their  vil 
lages  and  seeking  new  habitations.  They  were  welcomed 
by  the  villagers  of  Kosh-tea,  but  the  newcomers,  not  lik 
ing  the  location  of  Kosh-tea,  on  account  of  its  exposed 
position,  settled  on  the  present  site  of  Laguna.  This  was 
a  rough  sandstone  hill  or  point  of  ridge  covered  with 
oak  brush,  cedar  and  pinon.  The  place  was  known  to 
the  hunters  and  people  who  frequented  these  parts  as 
Kush-tit  Kow-ike.  Kushtit  is  a  word  used  for  dry  sticks 
and  limbs  suitable  for  firewood,  and  Kowike  is  a  con- 


JUAN    DE    ONATE  43 

traction  of  the  word  Kowisho  or  Kowinesho,  meaning  a 
pond  or  lake. 

The  old  pueblo  of  Kosh-tea  was  finally  abandoned, 
the  inhabitants  taking  up  their  residence  in  the  new  vil 
lage  of  Laguna,  or  as  they  call  it,  Kowike.  The  internal 
wars  among  the  Pueblos  produced  great  changes.  All 
the  tribes  were  greatly  reduced  in  numbers.  The  Tom- 
piros  were  completely  exterminated.  The  Queres,  for 
some  reason,  suffered  least  of  all. 

One  branch  of  the  Tanos,  tiring  of  the  ceaseless  war 
fare  and  fearing  the  vengeance  of  the  Spaniards,  should 
they  return,  moved  away  from  Santa  Fe,  under  the  lead 
ership  of  Frasquillo,  a  mere  boy,  who  had  been  educated 
by  a  Spanish  missionary,  and  had  a  fairly  good  educa 
tion.  For  this  reason  and  from  the  fact  that  he  had  dis 
tinguished  himself  in  murdering  his  benefactor,  Simon 
de  Jesus,  he  was  placed  in  command.  This  band  sent 
their  agents  to  Laguna  and  Acoma  in  search  of  a  new 
location  to  build  habitations,  but  being  of  a  different  tribe 
and  late  antagonists  of  the  Queres,  they  were  advised  to 
move  on.  They  next  went  to  Zuni,  but  with  no  better 
success.  From  here  they  went  to  the  Moquis.  These 
people  being  of  a  mild  disposition  allowed  them  to  settle 
in  their  country  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  but,  like  the 
Goths  whom  the  Greeks  allowed  to  settle  in  Grecian  ter 
ritory,  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  they  refused  to 
move,  and  their  descendants  still  live  in  the  village  of 
Tigua,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  Han-no.  At  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Pope  rebellion  there  were  three 
priests  in  Acoma — Christobal  Figueroa,  Albino  Maldo- 
nado  and  Juan  Mora.  With  regard  to  the  manner  in 
which  these  priests  were  put  to  death  historians  differ. 
One  account  says  that  they  were  taken  to  a  high  point 
on 'the  edge  of  the  Acoma  mesa,  where  the  face  of  the 
rock  is  a  sheer  precipice  of  300  feet,  and  compelled  to 
jump  off.  Two  were  killed  outright  on  striking  the 


44  SCHAT-CHEN 

ground  beneath;  the  third  escaped  in  a  peculiar  manner. 
In  jumping,  the  air  caught  under  his  cloak  or  gown,  form 
ing  a  sort  of  parachute,  and  thus  the  force  of  the  fall  was 
broken.  The  Indians,  seeing  how  he  escaped  death,  at 
tributed  it  to  divine  intervention  and  gave  him  his  lib 
erty.  Another  account  says  that  they  were  tied  together 
with  a  hair  rope  and  driven  through  the  streets  of  the 
village,  beaten  with  sticks  and  pelted  with  rocks  until 
Figueroa,  becoming  desperate,  infuriated  the  Indians  by 
prophesying  that  within  three  years  the  (Spaniards  would 
return,  that  the  village  of  Acoma  would  be  torn  down, 
and  the  inhabitants  exterminated.  On  hearing  this  the 
Indians  rushed  upon  them  and  speedily  put  them  to 
death.  The  bodies  were  afterward  placed  in  a  cave  in  the 
rocks  north  of  the  town. 

In  1681  Otermin  came  back  to  recapture  the  pueblos. 
He  met  with  no  serious  opposition,  as  most  of  the  Indians 
had  abandoned  their  villages  and  fled  to  the  mountains. 
Some  of  these  abandoned  towns  Otermin  had  burned,  but 
fearing  the  effect  of  a  severe  winter  on  his  stock  he  re 
turned  to  El  Paso,  taking  with  him  eight  prisoners  and 
393  newly  converted  Indians,  principally  from  Isleta. 
Among  the  captives  was  a  Queres  priest  or  medicine  man, 
known  as  Pedro  Naranjo,  from  the  pueblo  of  San  Felipe, 
who  had  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  Pope's  chief  ad 
visers  and  councillors.  When  questioned  with  regard  to 
the  Pueblo  revolt,  he  said  that  there  were  two  principal 
causes:  First,  the  persecution  of  the  Indians  by  the 
various  predecessors  of  Otermin;  and,  second,  the  inter 
ference  of  the  Spaniards  with  the  Indians'  religion,  which 
came  to  a  climax  during  the  administration  of  Governor 
Trevino,  who  had  all  the  estufas  destroyed. 
THE  PKIEST  WHO  SUKVIVED. 

Near  where  the  town  of  Bernalillo  now  stands,  but  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  is  a  heap  of  moulder 
ing  ruins,  last  sad  relics  of  a  once  happy  and  prosperous 
village.  This  is  the  Tiguex  of  Coronado,  Paola  of 


THE    POPE    KEBELLION  45 

Espcjo,  and  Puari  of  Kodrigues.  This  was  a  Queres 
village  and  called  by  the  natives  ' t  Po-ri-kun-neh. '  '  The 
name  signifies  butterflies.  Here  is  where  Coronado 
allowed  the  atrocities  to  be  committed  in  the  winter  of 
1540-41.  At  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion 
there  was  a  priest  at  this  village,  who,  by  kindness  and 
humanity,  had  won  the  affections  of  the  natives;  so,  in 
stead  of  putting  him  to  death,  one  of  the  Indians  took  him 
a  long  way  from  the  village  under  cover  of  darkness,  and 
then  giving  him  sufficient  food  for  several  days,  com 
manded  him  to  go  in  peace.  The  priest  kept  in  the  moun 
tains,  avoiding  the  settlements  and  traveling  westward 
until  he  reached  the  Pescado  spring  near  Zuni;  here  he 
was  discovered  by  a  party  of  Indians,  who  were  hunting 
antelope.  The  Zunis  took  pity  on  the  poor,  half-starved 
being,  fed  him  and  took  him  to  the  village  of  Zuni.  There 
he  adopted  the  costume  of  the  Indians.  I  shall  speak  of 
him  again. 


DIEGO  DE  VARGAS,  GOVERNOR  OF 
NEW  MEXICO 

In  1691  Die'go  de  Vargas  was  commissioned  governor 
of  New  Mexico  by  the  Count  of  Galves,  viceroy  of  Mex 
ico  at  that  time,  and  dispatched  with  an  escort  of  fifty 
soldiers  to  bring  the  Pueblos  into  subjection.  The  Pueb 
los,  as  we  have  seen,  were  divided  against  one  another, 
and  de  Vargas  foundat  comparatively  easy  to  recapture 
the  towns  along  the  Bio  Grande  and  around  Santa  Fe. 
After  the  river  pueblos  were  brought  into  subjection  de 
Vargas  led  the  attack  in  person  against  the  pueblos  of 
the  west,  Laguna  and  Acoma,  Zuni  and  Moqui.  The  La- 
guna  Indians,  hearing  that  the  Spaniards  were  coming, 
placed  all  the  women  and  children  of  the  tribe  on  a  high 
bluff,  or  rather  bench  of  the  mesa,  about  three  miles  north 
of  the  town,  and  left  the  old  men  to  guard  them.  The 
old  fortifications  are  still  there.  The  place  is  known  as 
the  Stchumits  Sin-otes  (white  bluff). 

The  Spaniards  were  repulsed  at  the  first  attack,  but 
the  Lagunas,  seeing  that  further  resistance  was  useless, 
surrendered  .  After  arranging  terms  of  peace  with  them, 
de  Vargas  secured  the  services  of  the  cacique  and  his  war 
captain  to  act  as  guides  for  the  expedition  to  Acoma  and 
Zuni. 

The  Spaniards  named  the  cacique  Antonio  Coyote. 
His  Indian  name  was  "Kum-mus-tche-kush"  (white 
hand). 

The  war  captain  they  called  Pancho.  The  expedi 
tion  arrived  at  Acoma  on  November  3  with  something 
over  100  Spanish  soldiers  (the  command  having  been  re 
inforced)  and  fifty  Indian  auxiliaries. 

The  Acoma s  surrendered  without  a  blow  and  on  the 
4th  again  swore  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  obedience  to 


DIEGO    DE    VAKGAS  47 

Spain.  On  reaching  the  pueblo  of  Zuni,  de  Vargas  was 
met  by  an  unexpected  obstacle,  the  natives  having  fled 
to  the  top  of  "Thunder  mountain,"  from  which  it  was 
impossible  to  dislodge  them.  The  Spaniards  decided  to 
surround  the  mountain,  which  is  only  a  large  butte  of 
about  1,000  feet  altitude,  and  starve  the  Indians  into  sub 
jection.  The  Indians  laughed  at  the  Spaniards  and  would 
thrown  down  rushes,  which  had  been  brought  from  the 
springs  in  the  valley,  to  make  the  enemy  think  that  there 
was  abundance  of  food  and  water  on  the  mesa.  But  time 
passed ;  the  wily  Spaniard  kept  his  ground ;  things  began 
to  look  serious  for  the  Zunis ;  they  knew  that  the  tanks  of 
water  would  soon  be  exhausted  and  the  food  consumed. 
They  held  a  council  and  it  was  decided  that  the  priest, 
whom  we  have  before  spoken  of,  should  treat  with  his 
countrymen.  The  priest  asked  for  a  tanned  buckskin,  then 
with  a  piece  of  kiel  he  wrote  a  message  to  the  command 
er.  When  the  writing  was  finished  the  priest  handed  it 
to  the  chief  man,  requesting  him  to  have  it  thrown  down 
where  the  soldiers  would  see  it.  One  of  the  warriors, 
tying  a  stone  in  the  end  of  the  skin,  threw  it  far  out  from 
the  edge  of  the  mesa.  The  Spanish  guards  were  on  the 
alert  and  saw  that  something  of  importance  was  taking 
place  on  the  mountain,  and  hardly  had  the  skin  touched 
the  ground  when  they  were  there  to  pick  it  up ;  but  imag 
ine  their  surprise  when,  upon  examination,  they  found  a 
message  in  their  own  native  tongue.  It  was  speedily  de 
livered  to  de  Vargas,  who  at  once  opened  negotiations 
with  the  priest,  and  terms  of  surrender  were  agreed 
upon.  The  priest  accompanied  de  Vargas  and  his  com 
mand  when  they  returned  to  the  river.  Several  of  the 
Zuni  Indians,  who  had  become  attached  to  the  priest,  fol 
lowed  as  far  as  Laguna,  where  they  took  up  their  resi 
dence.  This  story  of  the  priest  is  traditionary,  but  there 
is  historic  evidence  enough  to  show  that  some  priest  sur 
vived  the  massacre  of  August  10.  Gushing  refers  to  him 


48  SCHAT-CHEN 

in  some  of  his  writings  of  the  Zuni  history  and  tradition. 
De  Thoma  says,  "Fray  Jose  de  Esboleta,  a  native  of  Es- 
tella,  in  the  heroic  province  of  Navarre,  came  to  New 
Mexico  in  the  year  1650  and  took  charge  of  the  missions 
of  Oraibe,  one  of  the  Moqui  villages,"  and  that  Juan,  a 
Picuries  Indian,  informed  the  authorities  at  El  Paso  that 
he  had  seen  the  priest  alive  in  the  pueblo  of  Xongopavi, 
one  of  the  Moqui  villages,  in  1682,  enslaved  by  the  In 
dians.  De  Vargas,  however,  makes  no  mention  of  him 
in  his  reports,  but  this  may  be  accounted  for  from  the  fact 
that  de  Vargas  was  brief  in  all  his  writings,  verifying  the 
old  saying  that  actions  speak  louder  than  ,words ;  or  as 
one  writer,  speaking  of  de  Vargas,  says:  "His  manu 
scripts,  unlike  the  old  Spanish  documents,  which  are 
beautifully  engrossed,  forces  on  you  the  reflection  that 
as  he  carved  his  way  through  the  country  with  the  blade 
of  his  sword,  he  did  his  writing  with  the  hilt." 

There  is  no  mention  in  history  of  this  fight  at  La- 
gnna.  De  Vargas  states  that  after  receiving  the  oath  of 
allegiance  and  obedience  of  Acoma  he  and  his  command 
moved  on  towards  Zuni.  Arriving  there  they  found  the 
Indians  fortified  on  the  butte,  "Thunder  mountain,"  or, 
as  he  calls  it,  "Penasco  de  Galisteo,"  and  that  before  be 
ginning  the  attack  he  sent  a  certain  man  of  the  pueblo  to 
tell  them  that  he  had  come  with  peaceable  intentions,  and 
on  November  11  the  Zuni  Indians  surrendered.  In  one  of 
the  houses  he  found  several  articles  of  church  apparel. 

As  I  have  said,  this  incident  of  the  fight  at  Laguna 
and  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  with  the  Zunis,  through 
the  help  of  the  priest,  is  merely  traditionary,  but  from 
the  fact  that  the  Indians  say  that  the  captain  of  the  Span 
iards  was  named  Diego,  seems  to  show  that  this  trouble 
took  place  during  his  administration.  But  there  are 
other  events  which  indicate  that  it  may  have  happened 
during  Cubero's  term  of  office.  It  seems  that  Cubero 
banished  three  Mexican  citizens  to  the  pueblo  of  Zuni 


THE  BUTTE  "  EU  MORO." 

THE  BUTTE  OF  "EL  Mono" — INSCRIPTION  ROCK 


50  SCHAT-CHEN 

whom  the  Zuni  Indians  promptly  killed,  and  for  which 
violation  of  the  law  Cubero  led  an  armed  expedition 
against  them,  and  it  may  have  been  during  this  campaign 
that  the  incidents  related  occurred. 

From  Zuni  de  Vargas  made  a  short  trip  to  some  of 
the  Moqui  villages  and  then  returned  to  the  Rio  Grande 
by  the  way  of  Acoma  and  Laguna.  He  left,  however,  his 
autograph  on  the  rock  "El  Moro,"  or  "Insciption 
Rock,"  about  thirty  miles  east  of  Zuni.  Although  the 
inscriptions  were  known  to  the  natives  and  some  of  the 
early  traders  in  that  part  of  the  country,  they  were  first 
copied  and  made  public  by  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Simpson, 
September  19,  1849.  He  was  first  lieutenant  topograph 
ical  engineer  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  J.  M.  Washington. 
This  is  the  inscription  translated : 

"Here  was  General  Don  Diego  de  Vargas,  who  con 
quered  for  the  Holy  Faith  and  the  Royal  Crown  at  his 
own  expense,  all  of  New  Mexico,  in  the  year  1692."  De 
Vargas  was  not  the  first,  however,  who  carved  his  name 
on  this  rock,  as  there  are  other  inscriptions  bearing  the 
early  date  of  "Don  Juan  de  Onate,  April  16,  1605,"  and 
"Don  Jose  de  Basconzeles,  1626." 

Referring  to  the  priest,  it  is  possible  that  he  returned 
to  Zuni  and  took  up  his  abode,  adopted  the  costume  and 
accommodated  himself  to  the  customs  of  the  Indians  (in 
fact  there  is  traditionary  evidence  to  emphasize  this 
statement),  and  by  so  doing  was  dropped  from  the  church 
calendar.  The  Zuni  Indians  who  followed  the  command 
as  far  as  Laguna  brought  with  them  a  new  society  or 
order  called  "Chaquin. "  In  some  respects  it  resembles 
Masonry.  The  Zunis  claimed  that  it  had  been  taught  to 
them  by  the  priest,  but  not  being  allowed  to  practice  it  in 
Zuni,  on  account  of  the  opposition  of  the  medicine  orders, 
they  had  come  to  Laguna,  which,  being  a  new  pueblo,  any 
new  order  would  be  welcomed.  It  is  quite  a  popular  order 


DIEGO    DE    VARGAS  51 

yet,  and  known  as  the  "Chaquin,"  or  the  Order  of  the 
Black  Mask. 

The  two  guides  and  several  others  from  Laguna  ac 
companied  the  command  to  the  Eio  Grande.  There  de 
Vargas  presented  Antonio  Coyote  (Kum-mus-che  Kush) 
with  a  cane  as  a  badge  of  office  as  governor  of  the  new 
pueblo,  and  requested  the  Lagunas  to  return  to  their  vil 
lage  and  build  a  church,  and  that  when  it  was  completed 
he  would  send  a  priest  to  preside. 

The^church  was  built  in  due  time.  The  old  structure 
still  stands,  adjoining  the  present  Roman  Catholic  church, 
on  the  south,  and  is  known  as  the  "  House  of  the  Princi- 
pales."  Once  every  year  in  April  the  old  men  of  the 
tribe  meet  in  this  building  and  rehearse  their  beliefs  and 
ancient  traditions.  The  priest,  Fray  Juan  Merando, 
came,  as  promised,  and  brought  with  him  the  image  of' 
San  Jose.  Taking  the  image  to  the  river  he  dipped  its 
feet  into  the  water  and  rechristened  the  stream  Eio  de 
(San  Jose,  the  name  which  the  stream  bears  to  this  day. 
In  1696  many  of  the  Pueblos  again  revolted  against  the 
authority  of  Spain.  De  Vargas  succeeded  in  bringing 
them  all  to  terms  as  far  west  as  Acoma,  which  stubbornly 
refused  to  surrender. 


PEDRO  RODRIGUEZ  CUBERO'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

The  same  year  de  Vargas'  term  of  office  expired  and 
Pedro  Eodriguez  Cubero  was  appointed  to  fill  the  va 
cancy.  Cubero  had  also  been  empowered  to  arrest  de 
Vargas  on  certain  untrue  and  unjust  charges,  preferred 
against  him  by  those  who  were  jealous  of  his  fame  and 
.popularity  and  success  in  quelling  the  Indian  troubles  of 
New  Mexico. 

On  these  charges  de  Vargas  was  imprisoned  for 
three  years  in  Santa  Fe,  but  finally,  obtaining  a  hearing 
before  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  was  pardoned  and  re- 
appointed  governor  of  New  Mexico  in  1702,  and  Cubero 
returned  to  Mexico.  It  was  during  Cubero 's  administra 
tion  that  Laguna  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  obed 
ience  to  Spain,  which  we  have  before  alluded  to,  on  July 
4,  1699,  and  received  the  name  of  San  Jose  de  la  Laguna, 
in  honor  of  its  patron  saint,  San  Jose.  On  July  6,  of 
the  same  year,  1699,  the  Acomas  renewed  their  oath  of 
obedience  and  allegiance  which  had  been  so  many  times 
broken,  and  their  patron  saint  was  changed  from  San 
Pedro  to  San  Estevan.  De  Vargas  died  on  April  7,  1704, 
at  the  town  of  Bernalillo,  and  his  remains  were  buried 
in  the  wall  of  the  old  church  at  Santa  Fe. 


ANTONIO  DE  OBEJADA  AND  THE 
GRANT  TITLE  PAPERS 

Let  us  go  back  to  the  year  1689.  Domingo  Giron 
Petriz  de  Cruzate,  at  that  time  military  governor  of  New 
Mexico,  was  waging  a  war  of  extermination  against  the 
Pueblos.  In  his  attack  on  the  Zia  Indians  600  of  them 
were  killed  and  73  captured,  the  captives  being  taken  to 
Mexico  as  slaves.  Among  these  captives  was  an  Indian 
known  by  the  name  of  Antonio  de  Obejada  (probably  a 
corruption  of  Antonio  de  Ojeda).  He  seldom  is  men 
tioned  in  history.  He  was  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  in 
the  Pope  rebellion,  and  held  the  same  rank  as  Tupatu, 
Catiti  and  Jaca  of  Taos.  He  claimed  to  be  a  native  of 
Zia. 

He  was  well  educated,  being  able  to  read  and  write 
the  (Spanish  language,  and  although  suffering  from  a 
serious  wound  received  in  battle,  he  was  taken  to  El  Paso. 
The  authorities,  finding  him  very  intelligent,  questioned 
him  with  regard  to  the  lands  claimed  by  the  different 
pueblos,  and  on  his  testimony  grant  titles  were  issued  to 
several  of  the  pueblo  villages — namely,  Picuries,  San 
Juan,  Cochiti,  Santo  Domingo,  San  Felipe,  Jemez,  Zia, 
Laguna  and  Acoma. 

The  records  show  that  like  papers  were  issued  to  all 
these  different  pueblos  in  the  year  1689.  The  original 
grant  title  papers  of  Acoma  and  Laguna,  however,  have 
never  been  found  since  the  occupation  of  the  country  by 
the  Americans,  but  on  the  recorded  evidence  the  United 
States  government,  in  1876,  surveyed  to  them  the  lands 
claimed.  The  Acoma  grant  was  confirmed  by  congress 
and  patented  as  surveyed.  The  Laguna  grant  as  sur 
veyed  in  1876  was  never  confirmed  by  Congress.  In  1890 
the  government  appointed  a  commission  to  investigate 


54  SCHAT-CHEN 

the  old  grant  titles  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  They 
found  evidence  to  show  that  the  Laguna  claim  was  valid, 
but  too  large,  and  suggested  that  it  be  cut  down.  Con 
sequently  it  was  surveyed  again  in  1895,  giving  them  2 
body  of  land  six  miles  square,  with  the  village  of  Laguna 
in  the  center.  Subsequent  to  the  date  of  the  grant,  1689, 
Spanish  squatters  settled  at  different  times  on  different 
parts  of  the  land  claimed  by  the  Lagunas,  and  in  order  to 
get  them  away  without  trouble  the  Indians  bought  their 
improvements  and  what  land  they  claimed.  These  par 
cels  of  land  are  three  in  number  and  comprise  about  one- 
half  of  the  original  grant.  They  are  known  as  purchases. 
Their  claim  to  their  land  was  recognized  by  Spain  and 
later  by  the  republic  of  Mexico.  We  will  speak  of  these 
different  purchases  as  we  come  to  them. 

In  1744  Joaquin  Codallos  became  governor  and  cap 
tain  general.  It  seems  that  he  tried  in  a  way  to  assist 
the  Indians,  for  in  1746  he  had  two  missions  established 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Navajos,  one  about  fifteen  miles 
north  of  Laguna,  at  Cebolleta,  and  the  other  about  ten 
miles  northwest  of  Laguna,  at  Encinal.  These  missions 
were  quite  popular  with  the  Indians  for  a  time,  but  when 
the  novelty  of  the  institution  wore  off  the  Navajos,  like 
their  prototypes  (Arabs)  folded  their  tents  and  moved 
away,  and  the  church  vestments  were  removed  to  Laguna. 

Governor  Codallos  also  lent  his  aid  in  re-establishing 
the  pueblo  of  Sandia,  which  had  been  abandoned  since 
the  rebellion  of  1680-91. 

This  town  was  repopulated  with  Indans  from  Moqui 
(Ho  pi)  principally,  a  few  from  Acoma  and  Laguna. 
Sandia  is  located  about  fifteen  miles  north  of  Albuquer 
que;  it  has  very  few  inhabitants  now  and  seems  to  be 
again  on  the  verge  of  extinction.  It  may  interest  the 
reader  to  know  a  little  more  of  the  history  of  this  pueblo 
of  Sandia.  During  the  revolt  of  1680-90  the  Indians  of  the 
village  abandoned  their  pueblo  and  moved  in  a  body  to 


ANTONIO    DE    OBEJADA  55 

Moqui.  During  the  administration  of  Codallos  they  were 
brought  back  and  settled,  first  on  the  Bio  Puerco,  at  a 
place  called  Ojito,  but  for  several  reasons,  principally  the 
incessant  raids  of  the  Navajos  and  Apaches,  they  were 
again  removed  to  the  old  pueblo  of  Sandia.  The  ruins  of 
this  settlement  on  the  Eio  Puerco  are  still  to  be  seen  close 
to  the  little  village  of  Ojito.  In  1788  Juan  Bautista  de 
Anza  was  appointed  civil  and  military  governor  of  New 
Mexico.  He  undertook  the  task  of  Christianizing  the 
Moqui  Indians,  but  met  with  no  success,  further  than  in 
ducing  about  thirty  families  to  abandon  their  country, 
which  is  very  arid  and  barren,  and  settle  among  the 
pueblos  of  the  Rio  Grande.  As  they  were  passing  Laguna 
a  little  girl  of  the  party  became  sleepy  and  hid  herself 
among  the  weeds  and  pumpkin  vines  and  went  to  sleep, 
while  the  party  continued  "on  without  her.  When  night 
came  on  she  awoke,  and  seeing  the  lights  in  the  houses, 
came  to  the  village,  was  adopted,  and  grew  up  with  the 
rest  of  the  Laguna  children.  Her  descendants,  the  Moqui 
Sun  people,  represent  one  of  the  largest  clans  in  the  tribe. 

In  the  year  1801,  during  the  administration  of  Fer 
dinand  Chacon,  a  Spanish  colony  and  presidio,  or  mili 
tary  post,  was  established  at  Cebolleta,  fifteen  miles  north 
of  Laguna.  This  is  the  place  where  Governor  Codallos 
fifty-five  years  before  had  the  mission  built  for  the  pur 
pose  of  evangelizing  the  Navajos.  The  garrison  con 
sisted  of  thirty-five  soldiers.  The  grant  issued  to  the 
colonists  bears  the  date  of  1801  and  names  thirty-three 
grantees.  Among  the  first  on  the  list  are  the  names  of 
Jose  Maria  Aragon  and  his  brother,  Francisco  Aragon. 
Soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  colony  Jose  Maria  Ara 
gon  took  up  his  residence  among  the  Laguna  Indians  and 
married  a  woman  of  the  tribe.  In  1802  the  Navajos,  who 
claimed  that  section  of  the  country,  forced  the  colonists 
to  abandon  the  settlement  and  they  returned  to  Chihua- 


56  SCHAT-CHEN 

hua,  Mexico,  but  were  brought  back  the  following  year 
under  a  military  escort,  and  cautioned  that  if  they  ever 
returned  again  their  lives  would  pay  the  penalty.  This 
statement  seems  singular,  that  free-born  citizens  of  Mex 
ico  should  be  transported  back  to  New  Mexico  by  force, 
and  might  lead  one  to  the  belief  that  Cebolleta  was  orig 
inally  a  convict  colony.  But  it  is  claimed  by  the  old 
settlers  that  the  colonists  were  under  contract  to  remain 
in  the  country  and  the  Spanish  governor  took  this  means 
of  compelling  them  to  live  up  to  their  agreement.  In 
1805  the  Navajos  laid  siege  to  the  town  in  earnest.  The 
village  was  at  that  time  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  but 
the  Navajos,  numbering  about  3,000,  succeeded  in  forcing 
the  gates,  and  would  have  massacred  the  entire  popula 
tion,  but  for  the  timely  assistance  of  the  Laguna  Indians, 
under  the  leadership  of  Jose  Maria  Aragon,  who  was 
recognized  by  the  Spanish  authorities  as  alcalde,  or  jus 
tice  of  the  peace,  of  Laguna.  When  the  Navajos  broke 
through  the  gates  the  settlers  were  compelled  to  barricade 
themselves  in  their  houses,  and  then  the  fight  began  at 
close  quarters. 

It  is  said  that  a  woman  killed  a  Navajo  chief  by  drop 
ping  a  metate  from  a  window  on  his  head.  A  metate  is 
a  stone  used  for  grinding  corn  by  hand.  The  story  says 
that  there  was  an  American  in  the  village  at  the  time. 
They  called  him  the  sargento  (sergeant).  He  had  re 
ceived  a  desperate  wound  from  an  arrow,  but  with  the 
fighting  instinct  peculiar  to  those  old  pioneers,  he  climbed 
to  a  window,  and  there  with  his  trusty  rifle  fought  until 
he  died  from  the  effect  of  his  wound.  The  Laguna  In 
dians  in  the  meantime  had  attacked  the  Navajos  in  the 
rear,  and  the  latter  were  compelled  to  retreat.  In  return 
for  the  services  of  the  Lagunas  the  settlers  recognized 
the  Pueblos'  title  to  a  strip  of  land  joining  the  Cebolleta 
grant  on  the  south,  which  had  been  in  dispute.  The  land 
was  occupied  at  the  time  by  four  Mexicans.  Miguel  Mo- 


ANTONIO    DE    OBEJADA  57 

quino,  Vicente  Pajarito,  Pascual  Pajarito  and  Antonio 
Paguate,  from  the  village  of  Cebolleta,  but  to  quiet  the 
title  the  Lagunas  purchased  the  improvements  of  these 
settlers,  and  under  petition  the  Spanish  government  gave 
them  a  title  to  that  part  of  the  grant  which  is  now  known 
as  the  Paguate  Purchase.  The  military  post,  or  presidio, 
established  at  Cebolleta  was  continued  by  the  Spanish 
authorities  until  Mexico  became  a  republic  in  1821 ;  then 
by  the  republic  of  Mexico  till  New  Mexico  became  a  terri 
tory  of  the  United  States,  and  was  re-established  as  a 
camp  by  the  United  States  government,  occupied  first  by 
Colonel  Jackson's  command  in  1846,  and  continued  until 
1862,  when  it  was  removed  to  "El  Gallo,"  close  to  the 
present  town  of  iSan  Rafael,  thirty-five  miles  west  of 
Laguna,  and  called  Fort  Wingate.  In  the  year  1760  a 
Spaniard  by  the  name  of  Mateo  Pino  settled  on  the  La 
guna  grant  at  a  place  which  is  known  as  "El  Rito,".but 
on  account  of  the  raids  of  the  Navajos  and  Apaches  ho 
was  compelled  to  move  away,  but  in  1825  his  son  and  sole 
heir,  Guachin  Pino,  and  another  Spaniard,  by  the  name 
of  Marcos  Baca,  returned  to  the  place  claiming  that 
Mateo  Pino  had  been  granted  a  large  strip  of  land  in 
that  vicinity.  The  Laguna  Indians  bought  the  claimant 
out  and  by  petition  to  the  Mexican  governor  secured  title 
to  the  land.  It  is  known  as  the  "El  Bito"  purchase. 

In  1836  Pino  and  Baca  moved  to  a  place  eleven  miles 
west  of  Laguna  and  bought  a  quiet  claim  from  a  Navajo 
Indian  by  the  name  of  Francisco  Baca,  and  established 
the  town  of  Cubero. 

In  1870  Fort  Wingate  was  moved  to  its  present  site 
at  the  west  end  of  the  Zuni  mountains.  The  history  from 
here  down  to  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  Amer 
icans  is  meager  and  not  of  much  interest.  There  were 
occasional  raids  of  the  Navajos  and  Apaches,  and  even 
Utes.  These  prowling  nomads  never  attacked  the  pueblos 
of  Laguna  and  Acoma  in  force,  but  contented  themselves 


THIS     SHOWS    THE     MEDIEVAL    OR    RECENT    STYLE    OF 
COSTUME  WORN  BY  THE  QUERES 

The  pipe  or  flute  is  their  national  musical  instru 
ment.    It  differs  from  the  ordinary  flute  by  being 
simply  a  hollow  tube  and  requires  considerable 
practice  by  the  novice  to  sound  the  notes 


ANTONIO    DE    OBEJADA  59 

with  waylaying  the  lone  herder  or  hunter,  robbing  him, 
and  in  many  cases  leaving  his  dead  body  as  a  ghastly  re 
minder  of  their  wanton  atrocities.  Many  wonderful  tales 
of  daring  are  told  by  the  old  men  of  the  village ;  of  fights 
with  these  wild  denizens  of  the  mountains;  of  children 
that  were  captured  by  the  Navajos  or  Apaches,  and  cer 
tain  instances,  when,  after  long  years,  they  returned  to 
their  native  pueblos.  Many  of  these  stories  are  strange 
and  romantic.  It  was  necessary  for  the  people  to  be  con 
tinually  on  their  guard:  Their  stock  was  penned  in  the 
village  or  as  near  as  possible.  The  only  door  to  the 
dwellings  was  a  hole  in  the  roof,  only  accessible  by  means 
of  a  ladder,  which  could  be  drawn  up  in  time  of  siege. 
The  windows  were  small,  with  slats  set  in,  or  sometimes 
a  slab  of  selenite  (crystalized  gypsum)  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  glass.  With  all  the  trials  and  troubles  which 
they  have  passed  through,  however,  Acoma  and  Laguna 
have  about  the  same  number  of  inhabitants  as  when  their 
first  authentic  history  began.  The  early  Spaniards  were 
prone  to  exaggerate  the  number  of  inhabitants  of  nearly 
all  the  pueblo  villages.  The  population  of  Acoma  in  1680 
was  estimated  at  1,500;  in  1798  at  757;  in  1860  at  491;  at 
present  about  500. 

The  population  of  Laguifa  in  1797  was  817 ;  in  1860, 
988;  at  present  about  1,500. 

The  Queres  Indians  were  never  particularly  cruel  to 
their  captives  or  criminals.  When  death  was  the  sen 
tence  they  were  speedily  executed  or  marooned  on  a  high 
rock  or  ledge  of  a  precipice,  from  which  it  was  impossible 
to  escape,  and  there  left  to  perish  from  hunger  and  thirst, 
or  throw  themselves  down,  to  be  killed  on  the  rocks  below. 
This  mode  of  punishment  was  called  Tit-Kash.  Their 
war  whoop  was  Ah-Ah-Ai,  the  first  two  syllables  pro 
longed,  the  last  short  and  abrupt. 

THE  RAID  OF  THE  APACHES. 

The  last  raid  by  the  Apaches  in  this  part  of  the 
country  was  in  the  summer  of  1881  while  Vitorio  was 


OU  SCHAT-CHEN 

chief  of  the  tribe.  They  came  in  from  the  south,  a  band 
of  about  fifty  warriors.  Prom  the  time  they  left  their 
stronghold  their  trail  was  marked  by  destruction.  At 
the  Cienega,  from  where  we  will  follow  their  course,  a 
spring  and  ranch  about  forty-five  miles  south  of  Laguna, 
were  two  Mexican  families.  They  barricaded  themselves 
in  a  little  fortress  which  had  been  built  for  such  emer 
gencies  and  were  able  to  repel  the  attack.  The  next 
place  was  a  spring  and  ranch  house  known  as  Ojo  Torri- 
bio.  There  was  no  one  living  at  this  place  at  the  time, 
but  a  Mexican  named  Pablo  Pino  had  just  reached  the 
place  with  two  wagon-loads  of  freight  for  his  sheep  ranch, 
seventy- five  miles  southwest,  and  seeing  a  band  of  In 
dians  approaching  suspected  it  to  be  Apaches  on  the 
war  path.  He  drove  his  oxen  into  the  corral  and  then 
taking  several  sticks  to  represent  rifles  he  and  his  son 
climbed  to  the  top  of  the  house,  which  had  a  parapet 
about  two  feet  high  along  tne  edge  of  the  roof  furnished 
with  loop-holes  for  defence.  He  arranged  his  sticks  so 
it  might  appear  to  the  Apaches  that  eight  or  ten  men 
were  concealed  on  the  roof.  The  bluff  worked,  for,  after 
surveying  the  situation  and  a  short  parley,  the  Indians 
went  on,  giving  the  house  a  wide  berth.  The  fact  was 
that  he  had  one  good  rifle,  a  .45-caliber  magazine  gun, 
which  might  have  done  considerable  execution.  This 
Pablo  Pino  was  a  nephew  of  Guachino  Pino,  who  settled 
at  El  Eito  in  1825,  and  claimed  the  El  Eito  grant.  He 
was  married  to  an  American  woman,  Frances  Skinner, 
who  had  come  to  this  country  as  a  companion  and  assist 
ant  in  1851  to  the  wife  of  Samuel  C.  Gorman,  the  first 
Protestant  missionary  to  Laguna. 

The  Apaches  crossed  over  a  high  ridge,  or  tableland 
rather,  to  the  head  of  the  El  Eito  valley.  On  this  table 
land  they  met  a  sheep  herd.  They  killed  the  two  herders 
and  scattered  the  sheep  to  the  four  winds.  At  the  south 
end  of  the  El  Eito  valley  was  a  Mexican  ranchman  by 


ANTONIO    DE    OBEJADA  61 

the  name  of  Gregorio  Montanio,  with  his  family,  and  the 
morning  of  the  day  the  Apaches  made  the  descent  into 
the  valley  his  wife  told  of  a  dream  or  vision  or  premoni 
tion  or  whatever  it  might  be  called,  and  described  the 
coming  of  the  Apaches  so  vividly  that  they  decided  to 
hide  out  for  the  day.  So,  taking  a  lunch  and  a  few  other 
necessary  articles,"  they  repaired  to  a  little  spring  about 
a  mile  distant,  where  there  were  huge  rocks  which  of 
fered  excellent  places  for  concealment,  and  as  the  day 
passed  they  began  to  think  it  a  false  alarm,  but  about 
two  o  'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  saw  a  smoke  in  the  di 
rection  of  their  dwellings  and  then  they  knew  that  the 
Apaches  were  there.  They  saw  their  house  in  flames. 
The  corral  and  wagons,  everything  that  would  burn,  was 
subjected  to  the  torch.  There  were  two  big  wagons 
loaded  with  wool  belonging  to  sheep  men  by  the  name  of 
Ballejos.  These  they  burned  and  they  killed  every  living 
thing  around  the  place  that  they  could  find.  A  Laguna 
Indian  was  hunting  a  stray  horse  in  that  part  of  the  val 
ley  and  saw  the  band  of  Apaches  as  they  wound  down 
through  the  hills.  Not  stopping  to  estimate  the  number 
or  their  possible  direction,  his  duty  as  he  considered  it 
was  to  warn  the  pueblo,  thirty  miles  distant,  where  he  ar 
rived  a  while  after  dark,  but  long  before  he  arrived  the 
village  was  aroused  by  his  cry  of  warning  or  war  whoop, 
and  as  it  rang  out  on  the  still  air  of  the  evening  it  sounded 
to  one  who  had  never  heard  the  cry  before  very  much 
like  the  quick,  sharp  bark  of  the  coyote,  omitting  the 
howl. 

An  advanced  guard  was  hurriedly  dispatched  to  en 
gage  and  intercept  the  enemy,  while  runners  were  sent 
to  the  different  villages  to  give  the  alarm,  and  in  an  in 
credibly  short  space  of  time  warriors  began  to  arrive, 
armed  for  strife.  The  gathering  of  the  clans,  probably 
was  the  last  time  that  the  old  village  will  ever  witness 
such  a  sight.  They  were  all  well  armed  with  modern 


62  SCHAT-CHEN 

firearms  and  each  had  his  emergency  ration  rolled  up  in 
a  cloth  and  tied  around  his  body.  But  it  seems  that  the 
Apaches  had  not  come  with  the  intention  of  battling  with 
warriors  worthy  of  their  steel,  for  instead  of  coming  any 
further  north  they  turned  abruptly  west  and  ascended 
out  of  the  valley  at  a  place  called  the  Alcon.  Here,  at  the 
brink  of  this  mesa  or  tableland  they  ran  foul  of  a  big  herd 
of  sheep.  They  killed  the  two  herders  without  ceremony 
or  mercy  and  took  what  sheep  they  wanted  to  eat  and 
went  on;  The  cook,  or  camp  man  of  the  sheep  herd,  had 
gone  for  water  with  his  burros  (donkeys)  and  was  just 
returning.  He  saw  the  Apaches  killing  his  companions 
and  made  a  hasty  retreat,  concealing  himself  in  a  deep 
canyon,  thus  saving  his  scalp. 

The  Apaches  went  from  here  to  a  big  spring  and 
ranch  about  fifteen  miles  distant,  known  as  the  Seboya, 
arriving  there  early  in  the  morning  while  the  people,  two 
men  and  a  woman,  wife  of  one  of  the  men,  were  at  break 
fast.  They  were  mistaken  for  Navajos  on  a  hunting  ex 
pedition  and  invited  in.  The  reply  was  a  fusillade  from 
a  score  or  more  of  rifles  and  the  two  men  fell  dead, 
pierced  with  bullets.  The  Apaches  took  the  woman  with 
them.  They  were  closely  pursued  by  United  States  sold 
iers  but  managed  to  evade  them  and  reached  Sonora,  in 
Mexico.  After  two  years  of  captivity  the  woman  got 
away  and  returned  to  her  people  in  Cubero. 

The  Lagunas,  knowing  that  the  Apaches  might  be 
followed  by  United  States  troops,  abandoned  the  trail 
after  following  several  miles,  fearing  that  they  might  be 
mistaken  for  the  raiders. 

New  Mexico,  as  well  as  all  of  this  southwestern  coun 
try,  is  subject  to  violent  sand  storms  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year.  The  wind  blowing  over  the  dry  sand  seems 
in  some  way  to  electrify  it  so  that  it  leaves  the  earth  and 
is  carried  on  the  wind,  and  so  dense  is  it  at  times  that  it 
is  bard  to  distinguish  objects  a  few  feet  distant.  It  was 


ANTONIO    DE    OBEJADA  63 

during  one  of  these  storms  that  a  little  boy  was  herding  a 
bunch  of  goats  about  two  miles  west  of  the  village  of 
Laguna.  He  had  sought  the  shelter  of  a  stunted  cedar 
tree  to  obtain  what  protection  it  would  offer,  when,  like 
an  apparition,  a  painted  Apache  warrior  on  his  mustang 
loomed  up  alongside  of  him.  The  Apache  reached  down 
and  grabbed  the  boy  and  rode  away  to  join  his  compan 
ions.  They  were  on  their  homeward  journey  from  a  ma 
rauding  and  thieving  trip  and  in  due  time  they  reached 
their  country,  the  Mogollon  mountains,  two  hundred 
miles  southwest  of  Laguna.  The  boy  was,  of  course,  con 
sidered  a  servant  and  the  property  of  the  man  who  cap- 
turned  him,  but  he  was  allowed  most  all  the  privileges  of 
the  other  children  and  as  he  grew  up  he  became  an  expert 
with  the  bow  and  arrow  and  a  daring  horseman,  and 
could  outdistance  the  swiftest  of  his  captors.  There  was 
jealousy,  however,  among  some  of  the  younger  men  on 
account  of  his  abilities,  but  especially  with  one  whose 
affections  were  centered  on  a  certain  dusky  damsel  who 
seemed  to  prefer  the  society  of  the  captive.  She  over 
heard  a  plot  to  assassinate  the  Laguna  to  get  rid  of  him 
and  lost  no  time  in  telling  him  what  she  had  heard,  tell 
ing  him  that  he  would  have  to  make  a  break  for  his  lib 
erty,  otherwise  they  would  kill  him.  The  plan  was  ar 
ranged  that  he  should  hide  somewhere  near  the  camp 
that  night  and  the  next  day,  and  the  following  night  she 
would  tie  a  fleet  horse  where  he  could  find  it  and  then 
it  would  be  up  to  him  to  make  his  get-away.  So  in  the 
night,  when  all  was  quiet,  he  went  to  a  big  hollow  log 
which  lay  on  the  bank  of  a  little  stream  close  to  the 
camp  and  crawled  into  the  cavity.  The  next  day  the 
children  came  to  play  along  the  stream  and  around  the 
old  log.  Now  the  Apaches  as  well  as  a  great  many  of  the 
Indians  of  this  section  of  the  country,  are  very  supersti 
tious  about  a  rattlesnake,  so  he  imitated  the  chur-ur-ur- 
ur  of  the  reptile  and  they  all  ran  away.  When  night  came 


64  SCHAT-CHEN 

he  crawled  out  from  his  retreat  and  went  cautiously  to 
the  place  designated  and  found  the  horse  and  a  lilttle 
sack  of  food.  It  took  but  a  moment  to  untie  the  animal 
and  spring  onto  his  back,  but  by  some  misfortune  he  was 
apprehended  and  then  began  a  chase  through  the  dark 
defiles  and  steep  trails  of  the  mountains.  It  was  hard 
work  to  make  much  distance  in  the  dark  so  when  the  day 
dawned  he  knew  that  his  pursuers  were  close  behind  him, 
and  as  the  hours  passed  that  they  were  gaining.  Ahead 
of  him  was  a  deep  gorge  or  canyon.  Now  there  is  an 
other  peculiar  feature  of  nature  in  this  country  and  that 
is  what  is  commonly  called  a  cloudburst.  It  seems  that 
the  cloud  vapor  collects  over  one  spot,  piling  up  miles  in 
height,  and  then  as  the  vapor  begins  to  condense  the 
water  falls  in  torrents.  Such  a  phenomenon  was  just 
happening  at  the  head  of  this  gulch,  but  he  reached  the 
opposite  bank  just  as  the  flood  swept  by  and  when  he 
had  gained  the  ridge  beyond,  looking  back,  he  could  see 
his  pursuers  baffled  by  the  raging  torrent  of  water.  He 
kept  on  his  course,  eventually  reaching  Laguna.  His  par 
ents  were  still  living  and  welcomed  their  long  lost  son. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY 

Thus  far  we  have  followed  authentic  history  or  tradi 
tions,  which  can  be  verified  by  historic  records.  We  now 
take  the  trail  of  tradition  pure  and  simple.  This  lays 
before  me  a  task  of  no  small  magnitude,  to  trace  this  peo 
ple  back  over  the  road  now  all  but  obliterated,  with  no 
familiar  landmarks  to  guide  me,  nothing  but  the  few  frag 
ments  of  tradition  scattered  here  and  there  at  long  in 
tervals,  the  sound  of  a  word  that  has  survived  the  chang 
ing  influences  of  time  or  the  echo  of  an  ancient  song  that 
seems  to  float  down  to  us  from  the  dim  past.  Rollin,  the 
great  historian,  says  something  to  the  effect  that  the 
principal  incentive  to  the  study  of  the  history  of  a  people 
and  the  value  derived  from  it  is  to  discover  where  they 
made  mistakes  and  to  profit  by  their  experience.  With 
philosophers  and  statesmen  this  is  true,  but  with  the  av 
erage  person  the  incentive  is  curiosity  and  the  value  de 
rived  is  the  satisfaction  of  knowing. 

This  peculiar  condition  of  the  mind  called  curiosity, 
a  compound  of  reason  and  instinct,  or  in  the  undevel 
oped  brain  probably  the  first  shadow  of  reason.  We  find 
throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  with  few  exceptions,  a 
certain  desire  or  longing,  to  find  out,  to  become  familiar 
with  that  which  is  mysterious,  or  that  which  they  do  not 
understand.  It  is  this  same  mystic  influence  that  impels 
the  human  mind  to  delve  into  the  unknown  and  to  gather 
fragments  of  truth,  which,  arranged  in  proper  order,  we 
call  knowledge.  Who  are  the  Queres  Idians  ?  Who  were 
their  ancestors,  and  where  did  they  come  from!  The 
early  Spanish  explorers  in  the  country  classified  the 
Pueblos  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  according  to  their 
languages  into  nine  different  nations,  viz.,  Tigua,  Tegua, 
Tano,  Queres,  Piros,  Tompiros,  Xumanos,  Tusayan  and 
Oibolan.  Of  these  the  Queres  were  then  as  now,  one  of 


THIS  REPRESENTS  A  QUERES  INDIAN  IN  HlS 

ANCIENT  COSTUME 

Notice  the  peculiar  head  gear,  from  that  peculiarity  orig 
inated  their  name  for  hats — O-stchut-suts — a  lid  or  cov 
ering  broken  or  torn  apart 


ANCIENT    HISTORY  67 

liio  most  enlightened,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  numer 
ous  ;  at  present  numbering  seven  different  tribes — A  coma, 
Laguna,  Zia,  Santa  Ana,  San  Felipe,  iSan  Domingo  and 
Cochiti 

Their  traditions  are  faded  and  covered  with  the  dust 
of  ages  and  badly  patched  with  fragments  from  other 
traditions,  but  enough  is  left  revealed  to  show  that  we 
may  be  able  to  trace  these  people,  if  not  to  their  origin  at 
least  to  a  remote  antiquity.  The  meaning  of  the  name 
Qneres  is  rather  indefinite;  it  seems  to  be  an  obsolete 
word,  but  possibly  may  be  some  word  changed  by  Span 
ish  usage.  There  is  a  secret  society  or  medicine  order 
called  Korina,  or  Que-ran-na,  which  may  have  suggested 
the  name  to  the  Spaniards.  Han-no  is  their  own  name  for 
their  people.  The  word  is  significant ;  literally  translated 
it  means  "Down  East/  but  it  may  be  a  Phoenician  word, 
as  Hanno  was  a  name  common  among  the  Phoenicians. 
In  all  tradition  there  is  a  thread  of  truth,  which,  if  it  could 
be  untangled  from  the  romance  which  ages  of  supersti 
tion  and  ignorance  have  surrounded  it,  would  prove  a 
valuable  addition  to  history.  One  great  trouble  in  deci 
phering  these  old  traditions  is  that  in  many  instances 
they  have  been  mixed,  not  only  with  other  traditions  of 
the  same  people,  but  with  traditions  from  other  people. 

When  a  Queres  Indian  commences  to  tell  a  story  he 
begins  by  saying  Humma-ha;  these  words  to  him  now 
have  no  particular  signification,  and  are  used  merely  as 
words  of  attention  or  introduction,  as  we  would  say 
4 i Once  upon  a  time,"  but  at  one  time  they  meant  some 
thing  more,  as  the  words  indicate,  Humma,  when,  and 
ha,  east,  and  were  used  to  introduce  a  class  of  stories 
brought  from  an  eastern  country.  Among  all  the  tribes 
of  the  Queres  nation  there  is  a  tradition,  or  rather  two 
versions  of  the  same  tradition,  called  "Shipop,  stchemo ;" 
the  exodus  from  Shipop. 

One  version  of  the  tradition  says  that  in   an   eastern 


68  SCHAT-CHEN 

country  all  the  people  came  out  of  a  big  water  into  which 
poured  all  the  rivers  of  the  earth,  and  though  these  rivers 
flowed  for  ages,  never  was  the  big  water  augmented,  but 
that  it  would  rise  and  fall  at  intervals. 

Another  version  of  this  same  tradition  says  that 
somewhere  in  the  north,  a  few  days7  journey  from  the 
present  Pueblo  village,  all  the  first  people  came  out  of 
a  deep  hole  in  the  earth.  Into  this  hole  poured  four  great 
rivers  from  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  although  these 
rivers  flowed  constantly,  never  was  the  pit  completely 
filled  to  the  brim.  The  water  would,  however,  rise  and 
fall  rhythmically.  The  latter  version  of  the  tradition  is 
part  Queres  and  part  borrowed.  Many  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  southwest  have  this  tradition  of  their  origin 
in  the  bottomless  pit.  These  traditions,  as  the  Indians 
tell  them,  are  clothed  with  a  great  deal  of  romantic  and 
mythical  nonsense,  having  been  handed  down  orally  from 
generation  to  generation,  each  one  who  repeats  them 
making  slight  changes.  Thus  one  tradition  becomes 
merged  or  confounded  with  another,  until  time  and  place 
become  a  confused  mass ;  so  when  asked  where  his  ances 
tors  came  from  the  Queres  Indian  will  answer  "From  the 
north, "  which  is  correct,  but  only  answers  a  part  of  the 
question,  as  we  shall  proceed  to  demonstrate.  Many  of 
the  old  folk  lore  tales  not  only  describe  in  a  way  the 
country  from  which  they  were  brought,  but  also  give  the 
direction.  Thus  some  refer  to  the  north,  others  to  the 
east  or  southeast. 

The  story  or  tradition  of  Shipop  says  that  when  the 
•first  people  came  out  of  the  water  the  land  was  soft,  or, 
as  they  express  it,  the  land  was  not  ripe  (Sah-kun-unt), 
and  that,  not  finding  firm  ground  on  which  to  build  hab 
itations,  they  continued  on  to  the  south  of  the  unripe  land 
and  there  finding  a  suitable  place  built  a  village  and 
called  it  the  "  Kush-kut-ret ; "  kush  is  now  an  obsolete 
word,  but  in  ancient  times  it  was  their  word  for  white; 


ANCIENT    HISTORY  69 

kutret  is  the  Queres  word  for  house,  so  the  structure  they 
built  must  have  been  a  compact  village  or  pueblo,  with 
numerous  rooms,  resembling  a  large  house.  We  will  call 
it  the  " White  Village.'7 

From  here  the  tradition  refers  to  a  country  still  east 
of  the  l  i  unripe  land, ' '  a  country  of  no  small  extent,  for  it 
was  considered  a  remarkable  feat  to  make  a  journey 
around  it,  and  they  say  that  but  few  men  ever  made  the 
trip.  They  tell  us  that  the  country  was  surrounded  by 
water  on  all  sides  (shra-ena-komisho-putch),  literally  the 
edge  of  the  water  all  around.  Their  early  traditions  and 
beliefs  point  to  this  island,  for  such  it  must  have  been,  as 
the  cradle  of  the  Queres  nation — the  island  of  Shipop. 
Now,  in  the  water  which  surrounded  this  island  lived  a 
monstrous  animal  or  fish,  the  "  Wa-wa-keh,"  that  vomited 
water.  This  fish  came  up  and  threw  such  quantities  of 
water  over  the  land  that  it  was  submerged,  and  all  the 
people  who  had  remained  on  the  island  perished.  These 
traditions  at  first  seem  nonsensical,  but  when  we  apply 
reason,  assisted  by  the  recent  discoveries  in  archaeology, 
we  find  that  they  are  consistent.  They  are  peculiar  in 
one  way,  showing  that  these  Indians  were  at  one  time 
a  seafaring  people. 

Along  with  these  romantic  traditions  there  are  sev 
eral  others  for  making  this  assertion.  They  speak  of  the 
land  they  once  inhabited  as  being  surrounded  by  water 
(shra-ena-kowisho-putch),  and  the  end  or  limit  of  the 
world,  or  where  the  sky  to  their  early  belief,  met  the 
horizon.  Th£v  call  the  ed^e  of  the  water  "kowisho- 
putch,"  and  they  call  the  place  where  the  sun  rises  and 
sets  "the  house  of  the  sea  or  lake  of  flame,"  "kowi- 
kutch,"  showing  that  the  sun  must  have  risen  and  set, 
according  to  their  belief  in  former  times,  in  the  waters. 
The  big  animal  or  fish,  "Wa-wa-keh,"  that  vomited  or 
blowed  water,  was  the  whale.  Certain  feature  of  the  lan 
guage  also  verify  this  statement.  The  name  for  some  of 


70  SCHAT-CHEN 

the  colors  was  suggested  to  them  by  the  water;  thus, 
striped,  kow-i-shu-shuts,  the  trembling  of  the  sea  or  lake ; 
spotted,  ko-i-sup-pe-uts,  the  splashing  of  the  sea  or  lake ; 
the  name  for  white,  know-istchum-mits,  the  reflection  of 
the  light  on  the  sea  or  lake ;  the  name  for  blue,  kow- 
wishk,  though  somewhat  obscure,  may  be  traced  to  a  sim 
ilar  source,  a  word  or  phrase  meaning  "like  the  sea  or 
lake."  I  have  traced  these  Indians  to  their  origin,  or  at 
least  as  far  back  as  their  traditions  will  take  us,  and  wit 
nessed  the  destruction  of  their  island  home. 

Of  course,  we  cannot  accept  their  romantic  theory  of 
the  destruction  of  their  land  by  the  marine  monster,  the 
"  Wa-wa-keh, ' '  but  we  can  believe  that  such  a  catastro 
phe  may  have  happened,  caused  by  some  seismic  disturb 
ance  of  nature,  as  geology  cites  us  many  such  instances 
even  in  modern  times.  In  tracing  these  people  I  have  given 
but  a  hasty  glance  along  the  trail  they  long  since  trav 
eled.  Let  us  follow  these  argonauts  of  the  western  hemi 
sphere  as  their  boats  leave  the  island.  Their  course  is 
west ;  they  reach  the  coast  of  Florida  at  a  time  when  that 
peninsula  was  shoals  and  shifting  sand  bars,  or  vast 
swamps  and  marshes.  Not  finding  a  suitable  place  to 
land  they  continue  on  to  the  south,  skirting  the  coast  till 
they  reach  the  southwest  extremity  of  the  peninsula. 
Here  on  the  islands  or  keys  they  build  their  first  habita 
tions  or  first  settlement  on  the  North  American  conti 
nent  and  called  it  " Kush-kut-ret, ' '  or  the  "White  Vil 
lage.  ' '  Here  the  traditions  are  verified  by  archaeological 
discoveries  of  vast  pueblo  ruins  on  the  keys  and  west 
coast  of  Florida,  constructed  of  conch  shells.  There  is  a 
faint  tradition  among  the  Lagunas  and  Acomas  that  their 
ancestors  built  structures  of  some  kind  of  shells,  and  the 
color  of  these  shells  may  have  suggested  the  name  for 
their  village.  On  the  islands  and  main  land  of  Florida 
are  quantities  of  broken  pottery,  a  silent  but  undisputed 
witness  that  a  superior  race  of  Indians  once  inhabited  the 


C2  SCHAT-CHEN 

peninsula.  The  broken  pieces  of  pottery  show  that  it  was 
vastly  inferior  to  the  nicely  constructed  jars  which  the 
Pueblos  of  today  make.  But  no  doubt  their  crude  pots 
answered  the  purpose  admirably  for  which  they  were 
intended. 

From  " Exploration  of  Ancient  Key  Dwellers1  Re 
mains  on  the  Gulf  Coast  of  Florida,"  by  Frank  Hamilton 
Gushing,  we  copy  the  following: 

Eeferring  to  the  origin  of  the  Key  Dwellers,  Mr. 
Gushing  says  this :  "  As  I  have  reason  to  think,  they  were 
aliens  come  to  these  shores  from  some  distant  region  over 
the  sea.  *  *  It  seems  to  me  highly  probable  that  not 

from  the  main  land  but  from  the  sea,  not  from  the  north 
but  from  the  south,  the  primitive  or  earliest  Key  Dwellers 
whoever  they  were  came  or  were  wafted  in  the  begin 
ning." 

Speaking  of  the  culture,  Mr.  Gushing  says  this : 
"While  they  may  not  pertain  to  a  new  or  hitherto  un 
known  people,  they  certainly  do  reveal  either  a  new  phase 
of  human  culture  or  else  an  old  culture  in  a  new  light.  *  * 
*  *  *  These  collections  served  of  themselves  to  indicate 
that  here  were  the  remains  of  a  people  not  only  well  ad 
vanced  toward  barbaric  civilization  but  of  a  people  with 
a  very  ancient  and  distinct  culture." 

With  regard  to  the  pottery,  Mr.  Gushing  says :  "  I 
found  abundant  specimens  of  shell  and  coarse  pottery 
characteristic  of  the  Key  Dwellers  proper." 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  communication  was 
kept  up  at  intervals  with  the  island  until  some  boat  re 
turning  learned  of  the  terrible  disaster,  and  seeing  the 
whale  spouting  in  the  vicinity  of  where  the  island  had 
been,  adopted  the  theory  as  the  most  plausible  that  this 
animal  was  responsible  for  its  destruction.  Years  pass, 
some  climatic  change  is  taking  place,  the  rainfall  each 
year  becomes  less  and  less,  until  everything  is  parched 
and  dry.  A  character  whom  they  call  "Po-chai-an-ny" 


ANCIENT    HISTORY  1 6 

comes  to  them  from  the  cane  brakes  of  the  north ;  he  pro 
fesses  to  have  control  of  the  seasons ;  he  obtains  a  large 
number  of  followers ;  the  ruler,  or  "Ho-chin,"  is  deposed, 
and  Po-chi-an-ny  is  elected  to  the  place.  He  changes  their 
medicine  from  the  use  of  simple  remedies  to  incantations 
and  jugglery,  but  he  fails  to  produce  the  desired  change 
in  the  seasons.  The  anger  of  the  natives  finally  becomes 
aroused.  Po-chi-an-ny  flees  from  their  wrath,  but  is  pur 
sued  and  captured,  and  tying  large  stones  to  him  they 
cast  him  into  the  deep  water,  but  matters  become  worse, 
and  at  last  they  are  compelled  to  move.  Their  course  is 
to  the  northwest. 

On  the  banks  of  a  large  river  (the  tradition  does  not 
describe  this  stream)  they  construct  another  village,  and 
in  remembrance  of  the  first  settlement  name  this  the 
"White  Village."  Here  a  plague,  which  they  call  "Ki- 
oat,"  something  like  smallpox,  overtakes  them.  A  daugh 
ter  of  the  ruler  becomes  afflicted.  The  disease  baffles 
the  skill  of  the  medicine  men. 

To  the  west  of  the  village  in  a  house  thatched  with 
big  leaves  lives  an  old  woman  by  the  name  of  Que-o  Ka-pe, 
who  is  celebrated  for  her  skill  in  medicine.  The  ruler 
sends  his  war  captain  and  brings  her  to  the  village.  iShe 
cures  his  daughter  and  many  others  merely  by  the  appli 
cation  of  water.  The  medicine  men  become  jealous  of 
the  old  woman  on  account  of  her  skill  in  overcoming  the 
disease  with  so  simple  a  remedy  when  they  were  power 
less  with  all  their  incantations.  The  medicine  men  hold 
a  consultation  and  Que-o  Ka-pe  is  sentenced  to  be  killed, 
but  before  the  deed  is  executed  she  makes  a  prophecy. 
The  Queres  Indians  say  that  she  pronounced  a  curse  on 
them ;  that  misfortune  and  misery  would  pursue  them  re 
lentlessly  for  generation  after  generation. 

Again  the  disease  broke  out  more  violently  than  be 
fore,  and  again  they  are  compelled  to  migrate,  and  again 
their  course  is  toward  the  northwest.  They  say  the  reason 


ANCIENT    HISTORY  75 

they  bad  followed  this  course  was  to  join  a  people  who 
years  before  had  come  from  the  same  place,  "Ship-op," 
and  had  settled  in  this,  to  them,  northwestern  territory. 
In  a  valley  surrounded  by  rugged  mountains  and  perpen 
dicular  bluffs  we  again  hear  of  the  ' '  White  Village ; ' '  last 
of  grand  settlements  of  the  Queres. 

The  tradition  gives  several  significant  landmarks. 
It  might  be  questionable  whether  these  were  on  the  island 
which  was  sunk  or  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  last  of 
the  "White  Villages,"  most  probably  the  latter.  These 
landmarks  were  four  majestic  mountains.  On  the  north 
was  the  "Kow-i-stchum-ma  Kote,"  literally  the  "moun 
tain  of  the  white  lake,"  but  probably  a  snow-capped 
mountain.  Kote  is  the  Queres  name  for  mountain.  On 
the  east  was  a  tall  straight  mountain  called  "Kut-chun- 
nah  Kote."  On  the  south  was  the  "Tout-u-ma  Kote," 
the  "Hooded  Mountain,"  probably  a  flat-topped  moun 
tain,  capped  with  basalt.  On  the  west  was  a  rugged 
mountain  covered  with  forests,  called  the  ' '  Spinna  Kote. ' ' 

From  the  earliest  times  the  Queres  were  governed 
from  one  central  seat  called  "Kush  Kut-ret,"  or  the 
"White  Village."  The  ruler  or  "Ho-chin"  was  elected 
for  life,  selected  for  his  knowledge  and  executive  ability. 
At  his  death  another  was  selected  in  a  similar  way.  His 
duties,  besides  governing  the  people,  were  to  keep  the 
ancient  traditions  and  history  of  the  people  of  the  na 
tion.  He  was  also  the  head  of  the  medicine  orders.  He 
had  one  officer,  the  war  captain  (Sah-te  Ho-chin). 

The  last  of  the  White  Villages  was  built  in  Southern 
Colorado,  or  possibly  in  Utah,  and  the  tributary  settle 
ments  extended  throughout  that  part  of  the  country 
where  the  four  states  corner — Colorado,  New  Mexico, 
Arizona  and  Utah.  The  destruction  of  this  grand  settle 
ment  was  caused  by  a  tributary  village  declaring  its  inde 
pendence  and  electing  a  new  ruler.  This  led  to  a  general 
war  among  the  inhabitants,  and  to  finish  what  the  Que- 


76  SCHAT-CHEN 

res  had-  themselves  begun,  those  fierce  warriors,  the  Apa 
ches,  appear.  The  destruction  is  complete.  The  nations 
which  for  thousands  of  years  had  held  together,  fighting 
their  way  across  the  North  American  continent,  were 
scattered,  some  going  to  the  valley  of  the  Bio  Grande, 
others  further  west. 


HISTORY  OF  AZTEZ  AND 
TOLL-TECS 

At  some  time  during  their  sojourn  in  that  northern 
country  they  say  that  one  part  of  the  nation  or  people 
went  on  to  the  Quay-eh  Puh  Ko-wahk  Queestche-ko-eh, 
which  means,  South  and  beyond  the  outskirts  of  the 
southwest  settlements.  Where  did  they  go?  Can  we  an 
swer  this  question?  We  have  followed  their  wanderings 
before,  sometimes  by  the  faintest  of  clues.  There  is  cer 
tainly  something  left  by  which  to  identify  them,  some 
landmarks,  some  word,  name  or  customs  that  still  sur 
vive,  that  will  guide  us.  South  and  beyond  the  outskirts 
of  the  southwest  settlements.  From  the  way  this  state 
ment  is  worded  it  is  evident  that  they  went  a  long  ways. 
The  early  historians  of  Mexico  tell  us  that  the  Aztecs,  the 
ruling  nation  of  Mexico  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  in 
vasion,  came  from  the  north.  In  speaking  of  the  emigra 
tion  of  the  Aztecs  Clavegero  says:  "Having  passed  the 
Eio  Colorado  from  beyond  latitude  35  degrees  they  pro 
ceeded  towards  the  southeast  as  far  as  the  Kio  Gila, 
where  they  stopped  for  some  time,  for  at  present  there 
are  remains  to  be  seen  of  the  great  edifices  built  by  them 
on  the  borders  of  that  river.  From  thence,  having  re 
sumed  their  course  towards  south-southeast,  they  stopped 
in  about  29  degrees  of  north  latitude  at  a  place  which  is 
more  than  200  miles  from  the  city  of  Chihuahua,  towards 
northwest.  This  place  is  known  by  the  name  of  Case 
Grandi,  on  account  of  an  immense  edifice  still  existing.7' 

The  names  of  different  nations,  tribes  or  communi 
ties  are  derived  or  acquired  in  various  ways,  generally 
from  the  country,  or  certain  features  of  the  country  they 
inhabit,  sometimes  from  some  national  peculiarity  or 
racial  characteristic  or  from  some  industrial  occupation, 
sometimes  in  honor  of  some  noted  character,  hero  or  clan 


78  SCHAT-CHEN 

or  tribe,  and  the  country  or  locality  gets  its  name  from 
some  natural  feature  or  characteristic  or  product,  animal, 
vegetable  or  mineral,  or  may  be  from  the  name  of  some 
hero  or  noted  character  or  from  some  incident  or  hap 
pening  that  may  have  taken  place  or  some  instrument 
or  weapon  or  utensil  used  by  the  inhabitants. 

Names  are  sometimes  contorted  or  changed  in  dif 
ferent  ways,  by  abridging  or  abbreviating  or  by  a  people 
of  a  different  language  giving  the  name  a  wrong  pronun 
ciation.  And  in  certain  instances  some  other  word  is 
mistaken  for  the  name  and  erroneously  applied.  So, 
keeping  these  facts  in  view,  we  will  try  a  little  compari 
son.  For  instance,  we  will  take  the  Indian  names  of  the 
seven  different  Queres  villages  and  figure  out  the  mean 
ing: 

Acoma — Ah-ko — Stche-ah-ko-ki — A  rude  form  of 
ladder. 

Laguna — Kow-ike — Kow-isho — A  lake. 

San  Felipe — Kuts-tcha — Kuts-tchuma — A  smooth, 
rocky  floor. 

Zia — iSee-ah — See-ah — A  snow  bird. 

Santa  Ana — Tumi-ah — Tumo-yah— Place  of  fleas. 

Cochiti — Ko-teet — Kote — Mountains. 

Santo  Domingo — Te-we — Tehua — This  town  is  a  mix 
ture  of  Queres  and  Tehua  Indians  and  they  adopted  the 
name  of  the  latter. 

Belonging  to  the  Laguna  and  Acoma  tribes  or  pueb 
los  there  are  several  outlaying  villages — Indian  names— 
and  meaning: 

Paguate — Quees-tche — Hand  it  to  me. 

Paraje — See-mun-ah — Dirty  mouth  (the  name  of  a 
hill  close  by) . 

Encinal — Pu-ne-ki-eh — West  lower  room. 

Acomita — Te-chin-nuh — North  river. 

Mesita  Negra — Ha-Sat — East  floor. 

Canada  Cruxs — Se-ama — Door. 


HISTORY    OF    AZTEC    AND    TOLL-TECS  '79 

The  historian  tells  us  that  when  the  Aztecs  arrived 
in  the  land  of  Anahuac,  somewhere  about  the  year  1200 
A.  D.,  they  established  their  settlement  on  the  east  border 
of  the  Mexican  lake  near  a  place  called  Tescuco.  Now 
this  may  be  merely  a  coincidence  but  the  name  sounds 
very  much  like  a  Queres  word  and  it  has  a  practical  mean 
ing.  The  Spanish  pronunciation  of  Tescuco  is  Ta-scu-co, 
the  Queres  would  be  Tuh-scu-co,  meaning,  "Pull  me  out." 
Torquemado  speaks  of  one  tribe  of  the  Aztecs  that  for 
merly  inhabited  caves  in  the  mountain  of  the  north. 

Let  us  call  to  mind  the  nations  of  Anahuac  or  tribes 
of  the  Aztecs  as  they  were  classified,  seven  or  more  in 
number — Tepanecas,  Tlascalans,  Hahincas,  Colhuans, 
Mexicans,  Xochimilcas,  Chichimecas.  Reducing  these 
words  or  names  to  their  simplest  form  we  have : 
Spanish  Pronounced  Queres  Meaning 

Tepane  Ta-pah-na        Te-pah-na        North  cave 

Tlascal  Tlas-cal  Tas-cahn  Pottery 

Hahin  Hah-en  Hah-en  Easterner 

Colhua  Col-wah  Coh-wah  Southern 

Mexico  Ma-he-co          Me-hec-o        Some  where 

Xochimil  Ho-che-mal      Ho-che-ne  Rulers 

Chichime  Che-che-ma     Che-che-ma    Bird  people 

Now  then  we  will  apply  the  same  line  of  deduction  to 
Anahuac,  their  name  for  that  region  where  they  dwelt  at 
the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion : 

Anahuac — Ana-wahs — Una-wah-sa — Pour  it  in. 

The  City  of  Mexico,  or  Tenuchtitlan,  as  the  ancient  in 
habitants  called  it,  is  situated  in  a  valley  completely  sur 
rounded  by  high  mountains,  and  all  the  drainage  from  the 
valley  and  the  mountain  slopes  next  to  the  valley  collects 
in  several  lakes  which  have  no  natural  outlet.  All  these 
lakes  are  brackish  but  one;  the  largest  is  about  thirty 
miles  wide,  and  this  peculiar  feature  of  the  country  JIQ, 
doubt  gave  it  the  name  Una-wasa — Pour  it  in. 

Az-ah  or  Ahs-ah  in  the  Queres  language  is  the  name 


80  SCHAT-CHEN 

for  a  very  large  earthen  bowl  or  tub.  Tick-eh  means  to 
specialize  or  specify.  This  may  be  the  meaning  of  the 
name  Aztec,  and  they  took  this  name  from  the  peculiar 
shape  of  the  valley  or  basin  in  which  they  dwelt. 

We  have  followed  the  trail  of  this  branch  of  the 
Queres  people  to  their  destination,  the  City  of  Mexico. 
Why  did  they  go?  Their  traditions  say  that  they  were 
following  on  the  same  course  that  others  of  the  same  na 
tion  had  traveled  centuries  before.  They  sent  scouts  to 
locate  this  people  but  they  returned  unsuccessful,  and 
were  sent  again.  This  time  they  found  them,  but  had 
to  make  a  subterranean  journey  to  reach  their  country. 


THE  TOLLTECS  OR  NAH-WISH 

This  people  were  called  the  Nah-wish  or  Ka-tsi-na 
or  as  historians  call  them  Tolltecs.  They  must 
have  been  of  small  stature,  as  their  old  ruined  dwellings 
show,  and  as  they  are  represented  in  the  Queres  dances 
by  small  boys.  In  their  migrations  south  from  the  San 
Juan  country  these  two  tribes  followed  along  the  conti 
nental  divide  or  as  near  as  practical,  as  shown  by  two 
distinct  classes  of  ruins.  In  the  Queres  dialect  the  H 
sound  is  used  where  L  is  used  in  some  of  the  other  dia 
lects.  The  name  Toll-tecs  or  To-eh-tick-eh  as  the  Queres 
would  pronounce  it,  means  simply  those  who  are  here. 
Their  home  in  the  north  as  the  Spanish  historian  writes 
it  they  called  Hua-hua-tlapallan.  "Wah-wah"  means 
there,  "t"  north,  "ha-pallan"  oaks,  so  their  country  must 
have  been  somewhere  to  the  north  in  the  oaks.  They  left 
that  country  somewhere  about  the  year  600  A.  D.,  ac 
cording  to  Clavigaro.  In  making  this  calculation  he 
speaks  of  the  first  Tacpatl ;  that  they  used  that  as  a  start 
ing  point  to  reckon  dates  from,  something  after  the  plan 
of  the  Greeks  reckoning  their  dates  from  the  first  Olym 
piad.  Tac-path  means  to  wash  the  head.  It  probably 
refers  to  some  custom  that  was  adopted;  there  is  some 
religious  ceremony  connected  with  it.  They  settled  about 
fifty  miles  east  of  the  principal  lake  at  a  place  called,  or, 
as  the  historian  spells  it,  Tollantzinco,  probably  meaning 
"To-eh-una-seek"  — where  it  sleeps.  This  tribe  united 
with  another  people  called  the  Chi-chi-macas,  or  "Bird 
People. "  They  seem  to  have  been  of  the  same  nation 
ality  and  came  from  a  place  called  Amaquemecan.  This 
word  probably  is  Ma-eh-mah-can,  meaning  a  place  where 
the  stocks  or  stems  of  a  certain  kind  of  cactus  of  the 
yucca  variety  are  very  plentiful.  For  instance,  the  plains 
adjacent  to  the  Florida  mountains,  New  Mexico.  The 


82  SCHAT-CHEN 

leader  of  this  band  was  Xolotl,  which  means  Holioth, 
"the  howler."  There  is  another  tribe  spoken  of  by  the 
Spanish  historians,  the  Chalchese.  In  Queres  dialect 
there  is  a  word,  Cah-shash,  meaning  white.  Kush  is  the 
old  name  for  white ;  the  word  they  use  now  is  Stchunmts. 
This  latter  name  is  taken  from  their  word  for  shine. 

According  to  the  early  traditions  of  Yucatan  the  orig 
inal  civilizers  and  the  ones  who  constructed  those  great 
buildings,  were  bearded  white  men,  who  came  from  the 
east  in  ships,  from  a  place  called  Xibalba  (pronounced 
Habalba),  an  island  that  was  afterward  overwhelmed  by 
some  terrific  inundation.  Now  in  this  name  Xibalba  let 
us  substitute  the  letter  h  in  place  of  the  1  as  we  have  be 
fore  explained.  We  have  Hib-ahba.  You  see  the  similar 
ity.  The  island  of  iShipop. 

We  have  completed  the  circle.  The  road  has  led  us 
back  to  where  we  started  from,  but  there  are  other  trails 
leading  away  from  this  mysterious  island.  Clial-chase 
sounds  something  like  Chaldea.  If  they  are  the  same, 
then  the  Queres  and  the  ancient  Cushite  are  in  some  way 
related.  The  earliest  enlightened  nation  of  antiquity. 
Let  us  compare  a  few  words  from  each  of  the  two  lan 
guages  : 

Cushite.  Queres. 

Gush  Kush — white 

Chaldea  Chal-chase — Cah-shash — white 

Sika — gold  Sow-ka — metal 

Hanno — man's  name  Hanno — people 

Schat-tu — book  Schat-chen — book 

Aupir — the  West  Wa-puh — the  West 

Osiris — sun  Osrats — sun 

Carthage  or  Kartha — Kutret  or  Kah-tret — city  or  village 

Kahtan  represents  a  great  enlightened  epoch  in 
Arabia  about  4500  B.  C.  The  country  was  divided  into  a 
northern  and  southern  province,  the  north  under  Phoe- 


84  SCHAT-CHEN 

necian  rule  and  the  southern  under  the  rulership  of  Cah- 
tan.  These  Chal-chase  may  have  come  from  Arabia  at 
that  time  with  all  the  acquired  knowledge  of  the  age  and 
located  in  the  country  which  they  named  Yucatan  (mean 
ing  west  or  Pu  Kahtan),  and  built  those  cities  and  monu 
ments,  which  although  now  in  ruin  are  marvelous.  The 
names  of  these  places  show  that  they  spoke  the  same  lan 
guage  as  the  Queres. 

Chi  chan  or  Che  Shan,  a  shrine.  This  probably  ex 
plains  the  secret  of  the  She-ken  that  came  to  the  Queres 
from  the  south  pass,  who  had  the  wonderful  flowers  that 
would  wither  up  and  then  come  to  life  again  and  bloom, 
which  I  shall  speak  of  in  another  place. 

Chi-asps  or  Chi-apas,  the  three  stars  forming  the 
belt  in  the  constellation  of  Orion.  Mitla,  a  measure  or 
span  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger,  pronounced  Mat-ha 
or  Mat-ya  by  the  Queres. 

These  Chal-chase  are  probably  the  Colhuas,  the 
bearded  white  men  who  came  from  the  south  and  who  did 
the  first  remarkable  building  in  the  valley  of  Anahuac  or 
Mexico.  The  Cushite  or  Phoenician  seem  to  have  had 
colonies  in  almost  all  corners  of  the  world,  and  their 
language  was  most  widely  spoken,  but  their  traditions, 
myths  and  legends  tell  us  that  the  Cushite  people  ap 
peared  in  Arabia  in  nine  or  more  tribes,  supposed  to  have 
been  not  less  than  8,000  years  B.  C.  Where  did  they 
come  from?  The  island  of  Ship-op. 

The  Arabian  tradition  says  that  these  tribes  or  com 
munities  were  separately  organized  and  governed  by 
chiefs  whose  names  are  given.  At  the  head  of  these 
chiefs  was  Ad,  he  seems  to  have  been  the  first  ruler  of  the 
nation.  Isn't  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  named 
the  land  to  which  they  migrated  in  honor  of  their  ruler, 
Ar-abia  or  Ad-ah-pea,  meaning  where  Ad  stopped  or 
stayed,  and  also  the  land  from  which  they  came,  calling 
it  Ad-lantis  or  Ad-hantis  or  Ad-hatse,  meaning  the  land 
of  Ad. 


QUERES  SETTLEMENT  IN   FLORDIA 
AND  WEST  INDIES 

Let  us  explore  the  coast  of  Florida  and  the  adjacent 
islands,  and  if  our  supposition  is  correct  we  should  be 
able  to  verify  it  by  some  token,  some  landmark  left  still 
standing,  that  will  identify  the  Kush-Kutret  (Queeshtie- 
Ha  or  (Shell  Ruins)  as  a  Queres  settlement. 

The  first  land  discovered  by  Christopher  Columbus 
on  Friday,  October  12,  1492,  was  an  island  called  by  the 
natives  Gua-fcBL-han-ne.  This  name  is  a  Queres  word 
meaning  "It  comes  from  the  east."  The  small  barques 
made  from  hollowed  out  tree  trunks  which  they  called 
"canoe"  is  a  Queres  word,  "ca-no,"  to  travel.  Tobacco 
comes  from  "To-pat-to,  meaning,  drousy. 

Potato  comes  from  "po-ta-ta,"  to  select  one.  Hayti, 
pronounced  Hy-te  or  Hot-te,  is  the  Queres  name  for 
obsideon,  or  mountain  glass.  The  natives  no  doubt  went 
there  to  get  the  stone  to  make  arrow  points.  Jamacia  from 
"Hamaica,"  meaning  eastern.  The  Caribe  were  a  people 
who  wore  their  hair  reached  in  the  middle  like  a  crest. 
The  Queres  name  for  roach  or  crest  is  "Caripet." 

When  inviting  their  friends  or  visitors  into  the  house 
the  Queres  Indians  generally  designate  the  direction 
from  which  they  are  to  enter,  as :  Ha-oop,  meaning  come 
in  from  the  east ;  Tit-oop,  come  in  from  the  north;  Pu-oop, 
come  in  from  the  west ;  Co-oop,  come  in  from  the  south. 
And  this  is  how  Cuba  got  its  name— Co-oop  or  Co-oop-ah, 
as  they  would  say  it.  Enter  from  the  south. 

The  only  obstacle  offered  the  Spanish  in  the  conquest 
of  Cuba  was  by  a  casique  or  chief  by  the  name  of  Hatuey, 
but  he  and  his  band  were  overpowered  and  Hatuay  was 
condemned  to  be  burned  at  the  stake,  the  fate  of  a  slave 
who  rebels  against  his  master.  Hatuey  is  a  Queres  word 


86  SCHAT-CHEN 

meaning  pollen,  generally  applied  to  the  pollon  of  the 
corn  tassel. 

Las  Casas  says:  "The  Indians  in  admiring  any  ar 
ticle  of  European  manufacture  continually  repeat  the 
word  Tu-rey,  which  in  their  language  signifies  Heaven. ' ' 
The  Queres  use  this  word  a  good  deal.  It  is  Tu-ey,  simply 
an  exclamation  of  agreeable  surprise  or  admiration. 

The  Aztec  tribes  had  historical  records,  rude  draw 
ings  and  designs  painted  on  bark  or  skin  or  cotton  cloth. 
Some  were  on  a  kind  of  thick  paper  like  cardboard.  The 
early  missionaries  in  Mexico  imagined  that  these  figures 
were  symbols  of  idol  worship  and  conceived  the  idea  that 
if  they  were  destroyed  the  conversion  of  the  natives  to 
Christianity  would  be  easier  and  in  obedience  to  an  edict 
issued  by  Juan  de  Zummaraga,  a  Franciscan  monk,  the 
first  bishop  of  Mexico,  as  many  of  these  annals  as  could 
be  collected  were  piled  in  a  heap  and  burned. 

The  invasion  of  the  Apaches  is  supposed  to  have 
been  between  800  and  1,000  years  ago.  The  Navajo  In 
dians  who  inhabit  the  country  where  the  Queres  had  their 
last  settlements  show  a  mixture  of  the  Pueblo  and 
Apache.  Many  words  in  the  Queres  and  Navajo  are  alike 
and  some  of  their  religious  customs  are  similar;  for  in 
stance,  the  sand  paintings.  The  Queres  call  the  Navajos 
' ' Moa-shrum. ' '  The  name  means,  "those  who  came  out 
of  the  hills,  or  rough  country. " 

There  are  several  incidents  related  in  these  tradi 
tions  which  I  have  necessarily  omitted,  not  being  able  to 
definitely  locate  the  places  where  they  happened.  The 
Queres  tell  that  at  one  time,  on  account  of  famine,  their 
ancestors  were  reduced  to  cannibalism.  The  tradition 
seems  to  point  to  Florida  as  the  place  where  this  happen 
ed,  which  does  not  seem  possible,  with  the  sea  so  near, 
teeming  with  its  myriad  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life. 

Now  here  is  something  that  Mr.  Gushing  says  which 
might  throw  some  light  on  the  subject:  "It  was  perfectly 


QUERES  SETTLEMENT  IN  FLORIDA  AND  WEST  INDIES         87 

obvious  that  the  place  had  been  a  true  bone  heap  estab 
lished  on  a  slight  artificial  elevation  in  the  midst  of  an 
ancient  inclosed  pond  or  water  court,  and  it  was  also  evi 
dent  that  the  human  remains  therein  deposited  had  been 
dismembered  before  burial. 

"I  discovered  that  the  whole  heap  was  permeated, 
so  to  say,  with  broken  human  remains,  large  bones  and 
small,  many  of  which  had  been  split  or  shattered." 

.  Another  incident  they  speak  of  was  a  people  called 
the  She-ken,  who  came  to  them  from  the  south  pass, 
wherever  that  may  have  been.  These  people  were  under 
the  leadership  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Korina;  that 
when  they  arrived  each  one  of  the  party  carried  in  his 
hand  a  peculiar  flower  or  plant,  and  that  these  flowers 
were  continually  changing,  withering  and  then  resuming 
their  former  shape;  and  the  party  continued  on  to  the 
northeast  into  the  forest,  where  they  built  houses  of 
boards. 

I  have  attempted  to  untangle  these  old  traditions  in 
a  truthful  and  logical  manner,  but  have  necessarily  been 
compelled  at  times  to  assume  certain  premises  and  deduce 
the  conclusions.  There  is  still  room  for  a  good  deal  of 
speculation.  Was  the  island  of  Shipop  Plato's  Atlantis, 
which  Ignacio  Donnelly  attempted  to  prove  existed  at  one 
time  in  the  Atlantic  ocean  I  If  .such  an  island  existed 
there  must  be  certain  indelible  signs  left ;  for  instance,  a 
body  of  land,  such  as  it  seems  to  have  been,  would  have 
diverted  or  split  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  the  changing  of 
this  current  could  be  noticed  in  the  fossil  remains  on  the 
coast  of  Europe.  If  these  Queres  Indians  are  descend 
ants  of  the  Atlanteans  it  gives  them  an  unbroken  national 
record  of  at  least  10,000  years. 


"I/I 


THIS  is  A  SYMBOL  REPRESENTING  EYETICO,  M»?HER  OF  ALL  LIFE 

— NATURE 

It  is  an  ear  of  corn  perfect  in  every  grain,  the  plume  is  a 

feather  from  every  known  bird;  after  four  years  this  corn  is 

planted  and  another  ear  is  selected  from  the  same  grain 


ANCIENT  RELIGION  AND  BELIEFS 
OF  THE  QUERES 

The  religious  belief  of  the  ancient  Queres  Indians 
is  as  strange  as  their  ancient  history.  It  is  philosophical 
and  reveals  a  depth  of  thought  far  ahead  of  their  descend 
ants  of  the  present  day.  The  belief  in  a  supreme  being  or 
beings  is  as  old  as  reason  in  the  human  brain.  The  first 
theory  of  a  deity  evolved  by  mental  reasoning  was  neces 
sarily  crude,  but  as  the  mind  expanded  old  theories  were 
dropped  and  new  ones  adopted,  and  so  it  has  been  going 
on  since  the  dawn  of  reason.  Everything  in  creation, 
nature  in  all  its  varied  forms,  shows  itself  to  be  the 
product  of  profound  reason,  and  whence  this  reason? 
Who  will  be  the  Copernicus  or  the  Newton  to  discover  the 
true  theory?  Is  there  a  personal  God,  or  is  all  matter 
imbued  more  or  less  with  intelligence?  The  religion  of 
the  Queres  is  not  exactly  a  polytheism,  neither  is  it  a 
pantheism,  but  seems  to  be  a  compound  of  the  two,  with 
a  slight  strain  of  totemism.  Their  theory  is  that  reason 
(personified)  is  the  supreme  power,  a  master  mind  that 
has  always  existed,  which  they  call  Sitch-tche-na-ko.  This 
is  the  feminine  form  for  thought  or  reason.  She  had  one 
sister,  Shro-tu-me-na-kor  memory  or  instinct.  Their  be 
lief  is  that  Sitch-tche-na-ko  is  the  creator  of  all,  and  to 
her  they  offer  their  most  devout  prayers,  but  never  to 
Shro-tu-me-na-ko.  They  say  it  is  bad  to  do  so.  This 
shows  that  they  know  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  mind, 
reason  and  instinct,  and  also  that  they  were  aware  of  the 
apparent  uselessness  and  possible  evil  consequences  of 
cultivating  the  subjective  mind.  E-yet-e-co  is  the  most 
beloved  of  all  the  deities;  to  her  they  can  all  pray;  she 
is  the  mother  who  brought  them  forth  and  receives  them 
when  they  die.  E-yet-e-co  means  the  earth,  but  they 


90  SCHAT-CHEN 

speak  of  her  in  much  the  same  manner  as  we  speak  of 
nature.  She-wo-na,  the  spirit  of  force,  who  reveals  him 
self  in  the  fog,  the  rain,  the  dew,  and  the  mists,  who  man 
ifests  his  power  in  the  roll  and  surge  of  the  waters,  the 
storm,  and  the  rending  stroke  of  the  lightning,  and  whose 
voice  is  the  deep  roar  of  the  thunder;  Sitch-tche-na-ko 
created  him  out  of  a  dew  drop.  Shru-wat-tu-ma,  the  evil 
spirit.  Here  is  something  singular;  literally  the  name 
means  the  one  from  a  short  way  up.  Spiritualists  claim 
that  the  evil  spirits  inhabit  the  lower  plane;  jns^  above 
the  earth.  Thus  we  have  mind  (reason  and  instinct), 
matter  and  force  woven  into  a  religion.  Without  mind 
there  could  be  no  conception  of  anything.  Without  mat 
ter  there  could  be  no  force  that  we  know  of  and  vice  versa. 
The  evil  spirits  in  all  religions  are  a  logical  creation. 
There  seems  to  be  an  opposition  pervading  all  nature,  a 
part  of  nature's  laws,  thus  force  and  resistance,  attrac 
tion  and  repulsion,  positive  and  negative,  action  and  re 
action,  construction  and  destruction,  good  and  bad.  Here 
the  religion  takes  more  the  form  of  polytheism:  Wa-ah- 
me-na-ko,  the  guardian  spirit;  Ka-tu-te-a,  the  giver  or 
spirit  of  charity ;  Kap-poon-na-ko,  the  spirit  of  sleep ;  she 
seems  to  have  been  a  demigoddess,  because  she  is  said  to 
have  been  the  wife  of  Hutch-a-mun  Ki-uk,  the  ruler  of  the 
first  Kush-kut-ret ;  Moe-a-na-ko,  the  spirit  of  the  yellow 
earth;  Mots-sin-ne-na-ko,  spirit  of  the  hills  and  moun 
tains. 

There  are  several  more,  but  their  identity  is  lost. 
Merely  the  name  remains,  and  many  appear  to  be  bor 
rowed  from  some  other  religion  or  else  the  product  of 
ignorant  jugglery.  The  only  thing  in  their  religion 
which  indicates  totemism  was  the  worship  of  the  Siti 
Shri  Wa.  This  was  a  monstrous  green  serpent,  with 
horns,  that  they  say  inhabited  the  big  water.  The  Queres 
knew  something  of  astronomy;  they  knew  the  difference 
between  the  fixed  stars  and  the  planets,  and  had  names 


ANCIENT    KELIGION    AND   BELIEFS    OF    THE    QUEUES          91 

for  some  of  the  constellations.  They  say  the  sun  had 
eight  children.  Is  this  only  a  coincidence  in  their  myth 
ological  tales,  or  had  they  by  some  means  discovered  the 
eight  major  planets. 

"In  reason's  ear  they  all  rejoice, 
And  utter  forth  a  joyous  voice ; 
Forever  singing  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  that  made  us  is  divine." 

— Addison. 


A  QUERES  FAMILY 


MODERN  HISTORY  OF  LACUNA 
AND  ACOMA 

Resuming  the  history  of  Laguna  and  Acoma  where 
we  left  it,  just  before  the  Mexican  war,  the  first  and  most 
notable  event  was  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  in 
1848,  by  which  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  became  the 
property  of  the  United  States.  The  invasion  of  the 
Americans  produced  a  change  in  these  old  pueblos,  slow 
at  first,  but  like  the  sleeper  at  the  sound  of  an  awakening 
call,  these  people  of  a  forgotten  past  rouse  to  action. 
The  causes  which  had  so  long  kept  them  in  a  state  of  idle 
ness  and  bondage  have  ceased  to  exist.  Advancement  is 
the  countersign,  and  as  time  passes  we  recognize  no 
longer  the  old  customs  and  Indian  traits ;  all  have  changed 
yrith  the  advance  of  education  and  modern  civilization. 

In  1851  Samuel  C.  Gorman,  a  native  of  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  came  to  Laguna  as  a  missionary  sent  by  the  Bap 
tist  Mission  Society.  In  1856  the  Indian  Department  of 
the  Government  authorized  Mr.  Gorman  to  have  a  build 
ing  erected  for  school  purposes  and  as  a  chapel.  This 
building  is  still  used  as  a  government  assembly  place  and 
Protestant  church.  Mr.  Gorman  was  recalled  shortly 
after  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War. 

Sometime  during  the  decade,  1850-60,  the  United 
States  government  purchased  a  drove  of  camels  to  be 
used  in  exploring  the  deserts  of  the  Southwest.  An  ex 
pedition  with  some  of  these  animals  equipped  for  the  pur 
pose  passed  through  Laguna  in  1857.  The  direct  object 
of  the  expedition  was  to  explore  the  country  to  the  West 
and  locate  a  military  road  to  the  coast. 

In  the  latter  fifties  Gen.  McCook  established  a  Mili 
tary  camp  at  Laguna,  which  was  continued  about  a  year ; 
the  foundations  of  the  old  barracks  are  still  visible  north 


94  SCHAT-CHEN 

of  the  town.  Gen.  McCook  recruited  a  company  of  La- 
guna  Indians  to  act  as  scouts  in  the  campaign  after  these 
bloodthirsty  followers  of  Nane  and  Mangus  Colorado, 
and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  they  settled  many  a  long 
standing  account  with  their  old-time  foes,  the  Apaches. 

In  the  early  sixties  President  Lincodn  sent  to  each 
of  the  Pueblo  villages  a  silver-headed  cane,  to  be  held  by 
the  governor  of  the  Pueblo  as  a  badge  of  office. 

In  1866  the  Navajo  Indians  became  a  dangerous 
factor  in  the  Southwest.  Early  in  the  sixties,  or  to  be 
more  exact,  in  1862,  the  Government  established  an 
agency  and  military  post  in  the  Navajo  country,  known 
as  Fort  Defiance,  to  keep  these  savage  bandits  in  some 
kind  of  subjection,  and  to  quell  their  lawless  maraudings, 
which  had  long  held  the  country  in  a  state  of  terror. 
While  the  exact  cause  may  have  been  various  imaginary 
wrongs  on  the  part  of  the  red  men,  we  will  accept  the  fol 
lowing,  which,  like  most  happenings  of  that  kind,  come 
unexpectedly  and  all  at  once: 

Early  one  morning  a  powerful  Navajo  came  to  a 
kitchen  door  at  Fort  Defiance  and  asked  for  a  drink  of 
water.  The  cook,  having  just  finished  washing  the  dish 
es,  as  the  Indian  stepped  to  the  door,  accidentally  or  in 
tentionally  threw  the  pan  of  dirty  water  in  the  Indian's 
face.  Enraged  beyond  the  boundary  of  reason,  the  Na 
vajo  drew  an  arrow  and  laid  his  insultor  lifeless  on  the 
floor.  The  guard  seeing  what  had  happened,  but  not 
knowing  the  cause,  thinking  it  to  be  assassination,  fired 
on  the  Navajo,  killing  him  instantly. 

The  Navajos  in  the  vicinity  of  the  post  rushed  to  their 
arms.  The  news  of  the  killing  flashed  over  the  Navajo 
country  with  almost  the  speed  of  thought,  and  it  quickly 
became  evident  to  the  soldiers  at  the  post  that  the  Indians 
were  on  the  war  path.  The  Navajos  at  once  began  a  raid 
of  destruction  and  devastation.  Gen.  Canby,  assisted 


MODERN    HISTORY    OF    LAGUNA    AND    ACOMA  95 

by  such  experienced  Indian  fighters  as  Gen.  Carleton 
and  Kit  Carson,  took  the  field,  and  commenced  a  vigor 
ous  campaign  against  them,  pursuing  them  relentlessly. 
Their  sheep  and  horses  were  confiscated  or  driven 
into  corrals  and  killed;  peach  orchards  were  cut  down; 
the  cavalry  horses  turned  loose  in  their  fields  of  grain, 
and  what  the  horses  could  not  destroy  was  burned  by  the 
soldiers.  Two  years  of  war  was  enough  for  the  Nava- 
jos;  the  lean,  starved  warriors  began  coming  in  singly 
and  in  bands  to  surrender  and  accept  what  terms  of  peace 
or  punishment  might  await  them;  the  first  time  in  his 
tory  probably  that  these  fierce  descendants,  perhaps,  of 
those  same  people  who  gave  to  the  world  that  noted 
warrior,  Genghis  Kahn,  ever  bowed  to  a  conqueror.  As 
soon  as  they  were  gathered  in  they  were  taken  to  the 
Bosque  Eedondo  on  the  Pecos  river,  where  a  reservation 
had  been  set  aside  for  them  and  a  military  post  estab 
lished.  Owing  to  certain  features  of  the  climate  it  proved 
very  unhealthy  for  the  Navajos,  and  the  death  rate  soon 
became  fearful.  Gen.  William  T.  Sherman  was  on  a  tour 
of  inspection  at  that  time,  and  it  occurred  to  the  captives 
that  he  might  do  something  for  them,  but  Sherman  re 
fused  to  listen  to  the  petition  of  the  warriors  to  be  again 
returned  to  their  old  reservation.  Then  it  was  that  all 
the  young  women  of  the  tribe,  dressed  in  their  best  at 
tire,  besieged  the  old  commander.  They  promised  that  if 
allowed  to  return  to  their  old  reservation  the  women  of 
the  tribe  would  so  train  their  children  that  never  again 
would  the  Navajos  go  on  the  war  path  against  the  Amer 
ican  government.  They  told  in  their  way  of  all  the  sor 
rows  and  griefs  that  the  war  and  their  captivity  had 
caused.  The  gallant  old  general  was  conquered ;  the  hero 
of  many  a  hard-fought  battle,  who  led  the  famous  march 
from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  had  surrendered,  and  on  his 
recommendation  the  Navajos  were  returned  to  their  old 
reservation  in  northwestern  New  Mexico.  The  Lagunas 


96  SCHAT-CHEN 

and  Acomas  assisted  the  government  in  this  war  from 
start  to  finish,  and  won  great  praise  from  their  officers. 
As  I  have  once  before  said,  the  Navajos  are  largely  mixed 
with  the  Queres  Pueblos,  and  ethnologists  will  some  time 
confirm  this  statement. 

In  1868  W.  F.  M.  Arny  was  appointed  agent  to  look 
after  the  affairs  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  and  give  them  a 
helping  hand.  Arny  was  a  man  who  was  not  afraid  to  act 
on  his  own  convictions  of  what  was  right;  not  like  too 
many  before  and  since,  who,  from  fear  of  doing  some 
thing  wrong,  do  nothing  or  as  little  as  possible  to  hold 
their  positions  and  draw  their  salaries.  The  Pueblos  now 
had  some  show  of  redress  by  law.  Years  of  subjection 
and  seclusion  have  produced  a  state  of  timidity  among 
these  people  which  only  time  and  proper  education  will 
ever  eradicate. 

In  the  year  1871  Walter  G.  Marmon  was  appointed 
government  teacher  at  Laguna,  the  first  teacher  ever  ap 
pointed  by  the  government  to  teach  among  the  Pueblos. 
Some  time  previous  to  this  date  some  of  the  more  pro 
gressive  Indians,  seeing  the  advantages  of  an  education, 
had  instituted  a  select  or  subscription  school  and  hired 
a  Mexican  by  the  name  of  Manuel  Cassuas,  who  was  fair 
ly  well  educated  in  Spanish,  to  teach  their  children. 
However,  when  Mr.  Marmon  came  to  Laguna  as  teacher, 
not  one  in  the  tribe  could  speak*the  English  language,  and 
only  one  could  read  and  write  the  Spanish.  He  was  Luis 
Sarracino,  and  was  educated  in  Durango,  Mexico,  by  the 
Eoman  Catholic  church,  but  joined  the  Protestant  church 
while  Mr.  Gorman  was  here.  Arriving  at  Laguna,  Mr. 
Marmon  at  once  became  teacher,  doctor,  counsellor  and 
minister.  On  taking  charge  of  the  school  house  he  dis 
covered  that  there  were  no  seats  in  the  building.  In  an, 
ante-room  of  the  Eoman  church  were  two  sets  of 
stocks,  relics  of  the  past ;  these  Mr.  Marmon  had  sawed 
into  blocks  for  seats.  One  day  the  parish  priest  visited 


MODEBN    HISTOEY    OF    LAGUNA    AND    ACOMA  97 

the  school,  and  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  Mr. 
Marmon  remarked  that  he  was  again  using  the  stocks; 
that  he  had  resorted  to  them  to  help  teach  the  youthful 
Lagunas.  The  priest  replied  that  he  was  putting  them 
to  better  use  than  they  had  ever  been  put  to  before. 

It  had  been  the  custom  for  a  number  of  years,  or  at 
least  since  the  new  Eoman  church  had  been  built  (in  the 
latter  part  of  1799  or  the  fore  part  of  1800)  to  bury  the 
dead  either  in  the  church  or  in  the  yard  in  front.  The 
church  is  about  sixty  feet  long  and  25  feet  wide,  the  yard 
probably  100  by  50  feet,  and  at  this  time  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village  of  Laguna  numbered  about  1,000.  It  can 
readily  be  seen  that  in  a  few  years  all  the  space  would 
be  occupied ;  and  such  was  the  case.  The  remains  of  one 
would  be  exhumed  and  another  deposited,  the  bones  of  the 
exhumed  being  carelessly  thrown  over  into  an  out-corral 
adjoining  the  churchyard.  Mr.  Marmon  made  a  report 
to  the  agent  regarding  this  inhuman  custom,  and  asked 
that  he  come  to  Laguna.  When  the  agent  arrived  he 
found  things  as  stated,  and  called  a  meeting,  forbidding 
them  from  burying  any  more  of  the  dead  in  or  around  the 
church,  both  on  account  of  sanitary  principles  and  for 
humanity's  sake;  so  by  common  consent  they  abandoned 
the  practice  and  seected  two  new  sites  for  graveyards, 
Protestant  and  Eoman  Catholic,  respectively.  In  1875 
Dr.  John  Menaul  was  sent  to  Laguna  as  missionary  by 
the  Presbyterian  board  of  missions.  He  was  also  ap 
pointed  government  teacher,  Mr.  Marmon  having  re 
signed. 

Dr.  Menaul  established  a  printing  press  at  Laguna, 
devoted  to  missionary  work,  principally.  He  translated 
and  published  in  the  Queres  language  McGuffey's  first 
reader.  In  1884  a  bell  was  placed  on  the  school  building 
by  Pueblo  subscription.  Dr.  John  Menaul  spent  ten  years 
of  earnest  work  among  the  Lagunas.  He  left  in  1887, 
loved  and  respected  by  all.  The  old  mission  built  by  Mr. 


98  SCHAT-CHEN 

Gorman  in  the  early  fifties  stands  about  one-half  mile 
northeast  of  the  village,  and  is  still  used  as  a  dwelling, 
and  though  constructed  of  adobe  and  having  received 
but  slight  repairs  since  it  was  built,  is  apparently  as  sub 
stantial  as  ever.  A  good  deal  of  history  is  connected 
with  the  old  building;  its  walls  have  echoed  to  the  tread 
of  Sherman,  Logan,  Carleton,  Canby,  Kit  Carson  and 
many  others,  whose  names  adorn  the  history  of  the  Unit 
ed  States.  Part  of  Gen.  Lew  Wallace's  famous  story, 
"Ben  Hur,"  was  composed  beneath  its  rustic  roof. 
"Billy  the  Kid,7'  the  hero  of  the  Lincoln  county  war, 
spent  two  weeks  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  this  old  house,  a 
fugitive  from  justice. 

A  notable  event,  and  one  worthy  of  record,  occurred 
in  the  year  1876.  The  4_coma  grant  was  to  be  surveyed. 
To  the  northwest  of  the  village  about  25  miles  is  a  big 
spring,  called  El  Gallo,  known  to  the  Indians  as  the 
warm  spring.  This  was  one  of  the  landmarks  in  the 
boundary  calls  of  the  grant  papers  issued  to  Acoma  by 
Spain  in  1689.  In  1862  the  government  established  a  mil 
itary  post  at  this  place  and  set  aside  the  land  around  the 
spring  for  a  military  reservation.  The  post  was  aban 
doned  in  1868.  This  was  the  same  year  that  the  Navajos 
were  brought  back  from  the  Bosque  Kedondo,  but  the 
land  was  still  held  as  a  military  reservation.  When  the 
post  was  abandoned  a  number  of  camp  followers  and  ex- 
soldiers,  whose  time  had  expired,  remained.  The  spring 
flows  a  large  volume  of  water  and  the  soldiers  had  con 
structed  an  irrigation  ditch  and  had  several  fields  under 
cultivation.  These  improvements  the  squatters  wished  to 
retain,  but  the  land  being  a  military  reservation  they 
were  notified  to  move,  but  they  refused  to  go,  and  a  de 
tachment  of  soldiers  was  sent  to  remove  them.  They  ob 
stinately  resisted,  until  one  of  them,  a  Mexican,  attempt 
ing  to  decapitate  the  officer  in  charge,  was  killed.  The 
others  then  left  without  further  trouble.  In  1870  the 


MODERN    HISTORY    OF    LAGUNA    AND    ACOMA  99 

place  was  opened  for  settlement,  and  all  those  who  had 
been  expelled  returned,  and  with  them  came  others.  In 
the  meantime  it  became  known  that  the  spring  was  the 
property  of  the  Acoma  Indians;  a  council  was  held  and 
the  squatters  were  advised  to  bribe  the  officers  and  prin 
cipal  men  of  the  tribe  to  change  the  boundary  calls  by 
representing  to  the  surveyor  that  another  spring,  about 
ten  miles  further  east,  was  the  "Ojo  del  Gallos,"  or 
Warm  spring.  Besides  the  considerations  in  money, 
these  settlers  proposed  to  give  to  the  Acomas  part  of 
the  Laguna  grant,  which  as  yet  had  not  been  surveyed. 
The  Acomas  gave  their  testimony  to  the  surveyor,  as 
agreed  upon,  and  by  so  doing  the  Acoma  tribe  lost  about 
one-third  of  their  original  grant,  which  was  surveyed  and 
later  patented  to  them,  according  to  the  survey. 

It  now  remained  to  put  the  Acomas  in  possession  of 
the  Laguna  land.  The  Indians  of  Acoma  were  notified 
to  be  upon  the  ground  on  a  certain  day,  and  a  Mexican 
justice  of  the  peace  would  give  them  legal  possession  and 
title  to  the  same.  The  Mexicans  and  Americans  in  the 
scheme  knew  it  was  a  farce,  but  the  unfortunate  Indians 
were  sincere,  and  considered  the  Alcalde's  court  as  su 
preme.  The  Laguna  Indians,  becoming  aware  of  what 
was  going  on,  came  to  Mr.  Marmon,  who  was  at  that  time 
conducting  a  trading  post  at  Laguna.  Considering  that 
the  only  way  to  stop  the  trouble  was  by  a  display  of  force, 
he  hastily  armed  two  companies  (one  of  infantry  and  one 
of  cavalry)  with  Springfield  muskets,  which  had  been 
placed  in  the  town  for  the  protection  of  the  Lagunas  from 
the  Apaches.  He  took  command  of  one  company  in  per 
son  and  the  other  he  placed  under  the  command  of 
George  H.  Pratt,  a  government  surveyor,  and,  like  him 
self,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  and  together  they 
marched  to  the  scene  of  trouble. 

The  Acomas  were  already  on  the  ground  in  large 
numbers,  armed  with  every  conceivable  weapon.  The 


100  SCHAT-CHEK 

two  Laguna  companies  and  the  alcalde  (justice  of  the 
peace)  and  posse  arrived  on  the  ground  at  about  the  same 
time,  and  without  further  ceremony  the  alcalde  began  to 
read  the  decree  which  would  put  the  Acomas  in  posses 
sion.  The  charge  was  sounded,  the  alcalde  and  his  posse 
fled,  but  the  Acomas  held  their  ground,  and  a  pitched 
battle  ensued,  in  which  quite  a  number  were  seriously 
hurt,  but  no  one  fatally.  The  Acomas  were  finally  forced 
from  the  land.  The  agent  was  notified  of  the  trouble, 
and  came  at  once  to  the  village.  He  called  a  joint  meet 
ing  of  the  officers  and  principal  men  of  each  pueblo.  This 
land  in  question  was  a  purchase  by  the  Laguna  pueblo 
from  a  Spaniard  by  the  name  of  Garviso,  about  the  year 
1825,  and  the  Mexican  government  issued  them  a  title  for 
the  same.  It  is  called  the  Santa  Ana  Purchase. 

When  the  Acoma  grant  was  surveyed  a  part  of  the 
purchase  fell  inside  the  Acoma  lines.  After  a  good  deal 
of  debate  a  compromise  line  was  agreed  on.  The  La- 
gunas  were  to  relinquish  about  one-half  of  what  they 
claimed  inside  of  the  Acoma  grant  and  the  Acoma  pueblo 
gave  to  Laguna  a  quit-claim  for  the  balance  of  the  dis 
puted  lands,  inside  the  Acoma  lines,  and  so  it  was  settled. 
The  first  irrigating  ditch  was  taken  out  of  the  San  Jose 
river  by  the  Laguna  Indians  about  nine  and  a  half  miles 
west  of  the  village  of  Laguna,  in  1840.  The  next  ditch 
was  taken  out  about  three  miles  west  of  where  Acomita 
now  stands,  in  1860,  or  ten  years  before  the  Acomas  had 
any  settlements  in  the  valley  of  the  San  Jose.  Acomita 
was  built  in  1870. 


PROPHECY  OF  SHE-AKE 

Away  back  in  the  Queres  tradition  they  tell  of  a  cer 
tain  medicine  man  and  seer  of  the  nation  who  made  a 
number  of  prophecies,  which  have  practically  all  been  ful 
filled.  Coronado  refers  to  this  prophecy  in  his  letter  to 
Mendoza,  viceroy  of  Mexico.  He  says:  "They  declare 
that  it  was  foretold  among  them  more  than  fifty  years 
ago  that  a  people  such  as  we  are  should  come,  and  the 
direction  they  should  come  from,  and  that  the  whole 
country  would  be  conquered. "  The  story  says  that  this 
old  magician  would  'lay  himself  flat  and,  striking  the 
ground  with  his  clenched  fist,  commanded  his  audience  to 
listen.  Then  he  would  tell  what  he  saw  and  heard.  He 
told  of  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards,  the  bearded  warriors 
with  shirts  of  metal,  and  how  that  they  would  conquer 
and  enslave  the  Indians.  Then  he  told  of  the  people  of 
the  light-colored  hair,  who  would  come  from  the  east, 
would  conquer  the  country  and  would  be  the  friends  and 
champions  of  the  Pueblo  Indians ;  that  these  people  from 
the  East  would  build  metal  roads  (sow-a-ka-he-an-ne), 
and  the  prophecy  or  curse  pronounced  by  Queo-Kape 
would  be  lifted  and  the  rains  would  return,  and  then  the 
Queres  Indians  would  again  be  a  prosperous,  contented 
and  happy  people.  In  1880  the  iron  bands  of  the  great 
Santa  Fe  railroad  stretched  slowly  from  the  East  into 
the  lands  of  the  Pueblos.  The  prophecy  was  being  ful 
filled.  Eobert  Gr.  Marmon,  a  brother  of  W.  Gr.  Marmon, 
was  elected  governor  of  Laguna,  probably  the  first  white 
man  that  ever  held  the  ancient  office  of  ruler  of  the 
Queres  Indians.  Many  of  the  old  customs  were  aban 
doned  and  their  further  practice  prohibited  by  a  vote  of 
the  people.  Certain  ones  of  the  conservative  class  on 
this  account  left  Laguna  and  moved  to  Isleta,  on  the  Rio 
Grande. 


102  SCHAT-CHEN 

With  regard  to  the  government  of  these  Pueblos, 
they  are  both  democratic  and  republican,  or  representa 
tive.  All  business  of  minor  importance  is  regulated  by 
the  governor  and  a  staff  of  officers.  In  Laguna  the  ex 
ecutive  body  consists  of  a  governor,  two  lieutenant-gov 
ernors,  a  war  captain,  seven  fiscals,  or  supervisors,  one 
for  each  of  the  villages ;  seven  major  domos,  or  overseers 
of  ditches,  one  for  each  village.  When  there  is  business 
of  such  a  nature  that  the  officers  clo  not  feel  competent 
to  decide,  it  is  then  laid  before  the  whole  people  in  council 
for  their  vote.  These  officers  meet  once  a  month,  or 
oftener  if  necessary.  Their  pay  is. 50  cents  a  day  while 
in  council.  Eegarding  their  land  tenure,  the  grant  is  held 
in  common,  but  each  individual  or  family  have  their  own 
private  fields  or  parcels  of  land,  and  any  man  or  family 
can  hold  as  much  land  as  they  can  cultivate.  Failure  to 
cultivate  any  land  for  a  period  of  three  years  works  a 
forfeiture,  and  the  land  reverts  to  the  pueblo.  They  can 
buy  and  sell  lands  among  themselves,  but  not  to  an  out 
sider  or  one  who  does  not  belong  to  the  tribe. 

The  Laguna  Indians  claim  to  have  had  three  books  of 
records  of  the  past.  These  were  in  existence  until  within 
recent  years,  but  on  account  of  religious  disputes  they 
were  either  hidden  away  or  destroyed.  The  oldest  of 
these  was  the  book  of  "Water  People;"  the  next  was  the 
book  of  the  "Eagle  People;"  the  third  and  most  recent 
was  the  book  of  the  "Corn  People."  What  these  books 
were  like  is  only  conjecture.  The  Indians  say  they  were 
painted  on  some  kind  of  skin.  The  writing  was  no  doubt 
symbolic,  as  there  is  no  evidence  of  phonetic  writing  hav 
ing  been  understood  among  them.  Laguna  was  con 
structed  by  refugees  from  the  river  pueblos  after  the 
Spanish  invasion,  of  the  Queres  stock  principally.  They 
brought  their  books  with  them,  along  with  their  house 
hold  goods.  Could  these  old  records  be  brought  to  light 
they  might  prove  of  historic  value. 


PROPHECY    OF    SHE-ARE  103 

What  a  pity  that  all  the  history  of  this  great  Cushite 
people  has  perished — disappeared  completely!  It  seems 
mysterious,  but  yet  there  might  not  have  been  very  much 
written.  They  seem  to  have  been  of  a  very  secretive  dis 
position.  We  know  from  the  Romans  that  time  and  again 
the  Phoenicians  risked  shipwreck  rather  than  to  reveal 
some  seceret,  and  on  one  occasion  actually  destroyed  their 
own  ships,  burned  them  up  on  the  coast  of  France  (Gaul), 
rather  than  reveal  to  the  Eomans  the  location  of  the  tin 
mines  in  England  (Britain).  They  knew  all  about  the 
magnetic  needle  thousands  of  years  before  the  time  of 
Eome.  They  knew  the  composition  and  secret  of  making 
gunpowder.  They  had  evolved  or  invented  the  phonetic 
alphabet  and  signs  which  nearly  every  nation  of  the 
civilized  world  today  uses.  They  were  the  ones  who  in 
troduced  the  Age  of  Bronze  and  later  Age  of  Iron.  And 
where  did  this  civilization  originate  ?  Had  we  the  com 
plete  account  of  this  island,  Atlantus,  which  Solon  ob 
tained  from  the  Egyptian  priest  of  Sais,  we  might  form 
some  idea.  Plato's  account  is  too  meager,  but  from  what 
he  tells  us  and  what  has  been  found  out,  that  island  must 
have  been  the  seat  of  the  Cushite  empire,  possibly  the 
cradle  of  the  human  family.  Suppose  that  island  should 
again  rise  to  the  surface,  after  all  these  years.  What  a 
revelation!  Such  occurrences  have  happened  and  such 
may  happen  again.  It  must  have  been  a  volcanic  island 
which  was  thrown  up  in  the  ocean  at  a  time  when  the 
human  animal  was  in  the  early  stage  of  development  and 
by  some  peculiar  good  fortune  he  was  transported  there, 
which  being  free  from  all  other  aminals  left  him  master 
of  the  situation,  where  he  developed  and  became  the  rul 
ing  power  of  the  world. 


TRADITIONS  AND  NARRATIVES 
OF  THE  QUERES 


INTRODUCTION 


There  is  nothing  particularly  interesting  about  a  big 
rough  block  of  wood  or  stone  until  it  is  shaped  down, 
smoothed  and  polished.  We  hear  a  few  discordant  notes, 
we  think  of  it  only  as  sound  but  when  these  notes  are 
properly  arranged  and  rightly  combined  we  have  music. 
A  few  rambling  ideas  properly  arranged  and  clothed  we 
call  poetry.  The  plain  facts  of  history  are  not  very  in 
teresting  to  the  average  person.  So  by  embellishment,  to 
conform  to  the  requirements  of  a  story  these  old  tradi 
tions  of  the  Quercs  Indians  have  lost  a  great  deal  of  their 
meaning.  There  may  be  various  reasons,  but  we  naturally 
suppose  that  the  fondness  for  listening  to  a  story  to  be  a 
hereditary  trait.  Whatever  the  cause  or  causes,  the  fact 
remains  that  nearly  every  rational  human  being  is  fond 
of  a  story,  and  none  more  so  than  the  uneducated  Indian. 
To  him,  the  many  deities,  the  faries,  the  giants,  are  real 
and  personal.  Let  us  listen  to  some  of  these  old  yarns 
that  have  gladdened  and  delighted  the  hearts  of  the  dusky 
urchin  for  many  a  generation. 

Let  us  recall  those  characters  that  have  figured  in 
a  forgotten  past.  Let  us  gaze  on  the  mighty  Wah-wah- 
keh.  Let  us  visit  the  haunts  of  the  tSits-hriwa,  the  great 
green  serpent  of  the  waters.  Let  us  see  the  fairies  and 
ask  them  why  they  were  changed  to  insects  and  com 
pelled  to  live  in  such  inhospitable  places  as  the  edges  of 
swamps  and  ponds. 

Let  us  trail  Masts-truoy,  the  cliff-dweller,  to  his 
perilous  abode  on  the  rugged  precipice.  Let  us  bring 
all  of  them  that  we  can  recall,  and  learn  from  them  what 
we  can  of  the  ancient  history  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  of 
Laguna  and  Acoma. 


MAUSAY — ONE  OF  THE  HERO  BROTHERS 

This  figure  represents  the  Ope  or  Grand  Master  in  the  society  or  or 
der  of  the  Chaquin  or  Black  Mask.    Ope  may  mean  Ethiopian.    An  ax 
in  the  Queres  language  is  Ope-caw-ah-ne,  meaning  an  instrument  the 
Ope  (Ethiopian)   use  to  hunt  with 


THE  TRADITION  OF  SHIP-OP. 


Descendants  of  people  who  have  emigrated  to  other  countries  have 
only  a  vague  idea  of  what  the  land  of  their  forefathers  looked  like,  and 
as  generation  after  generation  passes  away  these  ideas  become  dimmer, 
especially  with  people  who  have  relied  wholly  on  oral  description  and 
tradition;  each  repetition  imparts  a  certain  change  until  finally  it  be 
comes  apparently  only  myth. 

In  the  following  tradition  the  deep  pit  was  the  ocean,  which  with 
their  limited  means  was  unfathomable.  The  rhymatic  rising  and 
lowering  of  the  water  was  the  tides  and  what  seemed  to  them  a  mystery 
was  that  all  the  rivers  flowing  ceaselessly  never  augmented  this  water — 
the  ocean. 

This  is  the  genesis  of  the  Queres  Indians.  They  have  no  miracu 
lous  account  of  their  beginning.  Mau-say  and  O-yo-ya-ye,  the  heroes 
spoken  of,  were  probably  leaders  in  some  migration. 

Somewhere  in  the  north,  a  few  days'  travel  from  the 
present  Pueblo  villages,  is  a  deep  hole  or  pit  in  the  earth. 
Into  this  pit  flowed  four  mighty  rivers  from  the  four  car 
dinal  points,  and  although  these  rivers  flowed  ceaselessly, 
never  was  the  pit  filled  completely  to  the  brim,  but  would 
rise  and  lower  rhythmatically. 

In  this  deep,  dark  abyss  dwelt  all  the  people,  for  as 
yet  there  was  no  sun  or  moon.  Long  had  they  dwelt  here, 
but  at  last  they  became  discontented  and  clamorous  to 
get  out  and  roam  the  world.  Now  among  these  people 
were  two  brothers,  Mausay  and  0-yo-yave.  Inspired  by 
the  daring  of  youth  they  descended  to  the  uttermost  depth 
of  this  chasm,  through  the  yellow,  the  blue,  the  red,  and 
finally,  in  the  furthest,  the  white  earth,  they  stood  in  the 
presence  of  E-yet-e-co,  the  mother  of  life,  and  spoke  the 
wish  of  the  people  and  asked  her  consent  to  leave  the  pit 
and  tred  the  earth  outside.  It  was  reluctantly  given,  but 
telling  the  heroes  that  the  time  was  not  ripe  for  them  to 
leave  their  abode  and  to  go  back  and  tell  the  people  that 
she  would  place  a  sign  in  the  sky  when  everything  was 
ready  and  that  she  would  come  and  call  them  forth.  Then 
the  sun  shone  forth  in  the  north  and  a  great  many  people 
came  out,  but  E-yet-e-co  was  not  with  the  sun.  Then 


110  SCHAT-CHEN 

the  sun  rose  in  the  west  and  again  numbers  of  the  people 
came  forth,  but  E-yet-e-co  did  not  appear.  Then  the  sun 
rose  in  the  south  and  again  a  number  of  people  ushered 
forth  to  vanish  like  those  who  preceded  them,  as  E-yet- 
e-co  still  delayed.  Then  the  sun  rose  majestically  in  the 
east,  and  with  it  came  E-yet-e-co,  the  mother  of  all  life. 
She  called  them  from  their  abode  and  bade  them  go  forth 
in  the  world,  but  foretelling  that  they  would  visit  strange 
lands  and  have  many  adventures  and  would  forget  her 
and  their  early  teaching. 

When  the  people  came  out,  the  earth  or  land  was 
soft,  not  ripe  (sah-kun-nut).  So  they  traveled  on  to  the 
south,  and  there,  finding  a  place  suitable,  built  their  hab 
itations  or  village  and  called  it  Kush-kut-ret  (the  White 
Village) .  Years  pass  away ;  things  are  as  they  should  be ; 
plenty  of  game  and  plenty  of  rain  for  planting,  until  one 
day  a  character  came  to  their  village  or  settlement  from 
the  Esto-eh  Tick-eh  .(cane  brakes)  of  the  north.  This 
man  they  called  Po-shi-ah-ne.  He  was  never  born  as 
other  people,  but  came  from  a  parasite.  He  was  a  great 
wizard  and  juggler  and  soon  obtained  a  large  following. 
He  introduced  a  new  form  of  medicine  and  worship. 
About  this  time  the  rains  ceased  to  fall  or  not  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  support  vegetation.  Po-shi-ah-ne  tried  very 
hard  with  incantations  and  magic  to  make  the  rain  fall, 
but  failed.  Then  the  people  became  angry  and  Po-shi-ah- 
ne  fled  in  the  dark,  but  he  was  pursued,  captured  and 
put  to  death.  Still  the  drouth  continued.  A  great  fam 
ine  was  in  the  land  and  the  people  were  reduced  to  such 
an  extremity  that  they  killed  and  ate  their  children  or 
weaker  members  of  the  tribe.  During  all  this  time  there 
was  one  man  called  Meech-hutch-tse  (the  humming  bird 
man)  who  remained  sleek  and  fat.  When  asked  where  he 
got  his  food  he  said  he  went  back  to  Ship-op  for  it. 

One  evening  there  came  to  the  settlement  a  people 
from  the  south  pass,  called  the  She-kun,  each  one  carrying 
in  his  hand  a  peculiar  flower,  or  plant,  in  full  bloom;  at 


O-YO-YAVE,    THE    OTHER    HERO    BROTHER 


112  SCHAT-CHEN 

times  the  plant  would  seem  to  wither  and  die  and  then  of 
a  sudden  it  would  revive  and  bloom  forth  again.  This 
people  went  on  to  the  northeast  and  built  habitations  out 
of  boards. 


KOPOT 


KO-POT  KA-NAT. 


This  is  probably  a  report,  or  what  remains  of  it  after  being  worked 
over  for  generations,  of  an  expedition  that  went  back  to  their  island 
home  from  the  settlement  on  the  mainland.  The  terms  of  the  race 
were  to  be  once  around  the  world  where  the  land  and  water  meet  (Ko- 
wi-sho  Putch),  the  edge  or  coast  line  of  the  sea  showing  that  this  land 
(Ship-op)  was  an  island.  Another  thing  you  will  observe:  It  speaks 
of  the  Kush-Kutret  (White  Village)  of  the  southeast,,  showing  that  the 
migration  was  to  the  northwest.  It  also  speaks  of  the  Ko-wi-stchu-ma 
Kote,  showing  that  this  mountain  must  have  been  on  the  island,  a  vol 
cano  no  doubt  that  erupted  and  destroyed  the  island. 

I-ye-ti-ko  and  her  sister,  I-sto-a-ko-ya,  lived  in  the 
Kush  Kut-ret  of  the  southeast.  I-sto-a-ko-ya  was  in  the 
habit  of  bathing  in  the  big  water.  This  she  did  almost 
continually,  and  it  sorely  tried  the  patience  of  her  sister, 
so  that  one  day  I-ye-ti-ko  scolded  her  because  of  it.  This 
angered  I-sto-a-ko-ya  and  she  went  back  to  Ship-op. 

Now  it  was  because  of  the  fact  that  I-sto-a-ko-ya  was 
almost  constantly  in  the  water  that  the  rain  fell  at  Kush 
Kut-ret.  When  she  had  gone  the  rains  stopped,  every 
thing  became  parched  and  dry  and  Kush  Kut-ret  was 
threatened  with  famine.  I-ye-ti-ko,  who  divined  the 
cause  of  the  drouth,  repenting  of  her  harshness  to  her 
sister  and  fearful  I-sto-a-ko-ya  had  been  overcome  by 
hunger  and  had  died,  sent  a  blue-bottle  fly  to  find  her. 

The  fly  flew  to  the  east,  the  west,  the  north  and  the 
south,  but  could  not  find  I-sto-a-ko-ya.  So  it  returned  to 
I-ye-ti-ko  and  reported  that  it  was  able  to  find  only  the 
footprints  of  I-sto-a-ko-ya,  that  the  footprints  led  toward 
Ship-op,  and  that  everywhere  that  she  had  trodden  the 
grass  grew  luxuriantly,  while  everywhere  else  it  was  dry 
and  parched. 

I-ye-ti-ko  next  sent  for  Stchi-mu-ne-moot,  a  great 
runner  and  trailer,  and  told  him  to  follow  the  trail  of 
I-sto-a-ko-ya  and  bring  her  back  to  her  home. 

Stchi-mu-ne-moot  lost  no  time  in  setting  out.     The 


116  SCHAT-CHEN 

trail,  marked  by  green  grass  and  flowering  plants,  was 
easily  followed.  It  was  not  until  he  had  drawn  near  to 
Ship-op  that  he  paused.  Here  he  met  the  Kopot  brothers, 
who  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Ship-op.  The  Kopot  brothers 
had  heard  of  the  fame  of  Stchi-mu-ni-moot  as  a  runner, 
and  so  they  halted  him  and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  want 
to  run  a  race  with  them. 

"I  am  going  to  Ship-op, "  answered  Stchi-mu-ni- 
moot,  "to  bring  back  our  mother  to  Kush  Kut-ret.  When 
I  have  done  this  errand  I  will  come  back  and  run  a  race 
with  you. ' ' 

This  pleased  the  Kopot  brothers  greatly,  for  they 
were  fleet  runners  and  wonderful  magicians  besides. 

Stchi-mu-ne-moot  continued  to  Ship-op,  where  he 
found  I-sto-a-ko-ya.  He  explained  to  her  his  mission  and 
asked  her  if  she  would  go  back  with  him.  She  replied  that 
she  would  if  I-ye-ti-ko  would  send  her  what  she  was  in 
need  of. 

80  Stchi-mu-ni-moot  returned  to  I-ye-ti-ko  with  this 
answer.  I-ye-ti-ko  prepared  a  bundle  of  clothing  for 
I-sto-a-ko-ya  and  with  this  Stchi-mu-ne-moot  again  went 
to  Ship-op.  When  I-sto-a-ko-ya  undid  the  bundle  she 
found  that  her  sister  had  forgotten  to  send  a  band  for  her 
hair.  So  Stchi-mu-ne-moot  was  forced  to  return  again 
to  Kush  Kut-ret.  He  brought  to  I-sto-a-ko-ya  the  missing 
band,  and  she  retuned  with  him  to  Kush  Kut-ret.  Upon 
her  return  the  rains  came  back,  giving  new  life  to  the  dry 
earth  and  saving  the  people  from  famine. 

Stchi-mu-ne-moot,  having  accomplished  all  that  I-ye- 
ti-ko  had  required  of  him,  told  her  that  he  desired  to  go 
and  run  a  race  with  the  Kopot  brothers.  She  gave  him 
her  permission,  and  gave  him  also  a  to-wa-ka  (a  stick 
or  bone  about  two  inches  long  and  an  inch  and  a  half  in 
diameter,,  that  the  runner,  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
game,  is  compelled  to  kick  ahead  of  him).  She  told  him 
to  exchange  the  to-wa-ka  for  the  one  used  by  the  Kopot 


KO-KAH-KI-EH — BROTHER  OF  KOPOT 


118  SCHAT-CHEN 

brothers.  He  took  the  to-wa-ka  given  him  by  I-ye-ti-ko 
and  went  to  the  Kopot  brothers '  house.  The  door  of  the 
house  was  in  the  roof  and  the  Kopot  brothers  had  placed 
a  big  turkey  with  outspread  wings  over  the  opening  to 
cover  it.  After  gaining  admittance  to  the  house,  Stchi- 
mu-ne-moot  succeeded  in  exchanging  his  to-wa-ka  for  the 
one  used  by  the  brothers. 

They  arranged  the  terms  of  the  race.  It  was  to  be 
once  around  the  world,  where  the  watef  and  the  land 
meet,  along  the  Ko-wai-sh  Putch.  The  forfeit  was,  on 
the  part  of  iStchi-mu-ne-moot,  one  eye;  on  the  part  of 
the  Kopot  brothers,  one  eye  from  each. 

When  all  was  ready  the  race  began.  At  the  first  kick 
Stchi-mu-ne-moot  sent  his  to-wa-ka  nearly  out  of  sight. 
When  the  Kopots  kicked  their  to-wa-ka,  it  fell  down  into 
the  house  through  the  hole  in  the  roof.  They  had  to  go 
down  after  it ;  and  while  they  were  looking  for  it  the  tur 
key  spread  out  its  wings  over  the  hole  and  made  it  so 
dark  within  that  it  took  the  brothers  a  long  time  to  find 
the  to-wa-ka.  When  they  came  out  they  were  so  angry 
that  they  killed  the  turkey.  By  this  time  Stchi-mu-ne- 
moot  was  half  way  round  the  world.  He  won  the  race 
easily  and  claimed  the  forfeit.  Taking  an  eye  from  each 
of  the  brothers,  he  threw  them  into  the  sky,  where  they 
remain  to  this  day,  in  the  tail  of  the  constellation  of  the 
Scorpion. 

Then  the  Kopot  brothers  were  very  angry.  They 
threw  the  to-wa-ka  that  had  been  the  cause  of  their  defeat 
at  Ko-wi-stchu-ma  Kote  and  made  a  great  hole  in  the 
side  of  the  mountain.  Out  of  the  hole  came  the  big  water 
animal,  Wa-waka,  that  vomited  streams  of  water  until  all 
the  surrounding  country  was  flooded.  Kush  Kut-ret,  the 
white  city,  was  inundated.  The  people  who  were  able  to 
escape  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  high  tableland  called  Ma- 
wha-rah.  These  people  kindled  a  fire  and  heated  stones 
and  threw  them  into  the  mouth  of  the  Wa-wa-ka,  finally 


KO-POT    KA-NAT  119 

\ 

killing  it.  The  water  then  subsided,  but  the  people  who 
had  taken  refuge  on  Ma-wha-rah  were  all  turned  into 
stone. 

Now  the  crows  at  that  time  were  white  and  possessed 
the  power  of  speech.  I-ye-ti-ko  warned  these  crows  not 
to  pick  out  the  eyes  of  the  dead  people,  saying  that  if  they 
did  not  heed  her  warning,  a  great  punishment  would  over 
take  them.  The  crows  flew  over  the  city,  where  all  the 
dead  people  lay  in  the  streets.  One  crow  said  to  another : 
"Let  us  take  just  one  eye  and  see  what  it  tastes  like." 

So  they  picked  out  an  eye,  and  all  at  once  all  the 
crows  turned  black  and  lost  the  power  of  speech. 


THE  SITS-SHBAI-WA. 


This  story  refers  to  the  Kush-kut-ret  Queestohe-ha.  That  means 
the  White  Village  furthest  southeast.  It  must  have  been  near  the  sea 
coast.  The  Sits-Shriwa  was  some  reptile  which  was  considered  sacred. 

In  the  Kush-kut-ret  Qis-chi-ha  lived  a  little  orphan 
girl  with  her  grandmother.  The  little  girl  loved  to  go  to 
the  water's  edge  and  play  in  the  sand.  One  day  when 
she  was  wandering  along  the  shore  and  playing  in  the 
sand,  she  found  a  worm  on  the  edge  of  the  water.  She 
made  a  basin  in  the  sand  and  filled  it  with  water,  put  the 
worm  in  it  and  each  day  would  go  and  feed  it.  It  grew 
rapidly  and  she  would  increase  the  size  of  the  basin  by 
digging  out  the  sand  and  thus  making  it  wider.  Each  day 
it  grew  larger  and  soon  became  a  big  snake,  for  it  was  the 
iSits-shrai-wa,  the  big  water  snake,  with  horns. 

One  day  the  girl  left  her  grandmother,  saying  that 
she  was  going  down  to  the  water  to  bathe.  After  the 
bathing  she  went  to  see  the  snake,  that  had  by  this  time 
grown  to  be  a  huge  reptile.  It  spoke  to  her,  calling  her 
mother,  and  asked  her  to  get  on  its  head  and  to  hold 
tight  to  its  horns.  She  did  so  and  the  big  water  snake 
dived  off  into  the  water  and  went  down,  deep,  deep,  with 
her  holding  onto  its  horns.  At  last  it  came  to  the  house 
of  its  parents.  Here  everything  was  beautiful  and  she 
was  kindly  treated,  and,  after  staying  awhile  with  them, 
she  said  that  she  must  go  back  to  her  grandmother,  who 
would  be  anxious  about  her.  The  big  snake  then  took  her 
on  its  head  and  carried  her  to  the  surface  and  placed  her 
on  the  sand  close  to  her  grandmother's  house.  She  went 
in  and  asked  her  grandmother  to  spread  a  cloth  down  on 
the  floor.  Then  she  knelt  down  and,  shaking  her  hair 
over  the  cloth,  beautiful  stones  and  metal  fell  from  her 
hair  onto  the  cloth. 


THE    SITS-SHKAI-WA  121 

Then  she  told  her  grandmother  about  finding  the 
worm  and  feeding  it  and  of  its  growing  to  be  the  Sits- 
shari-wa,  and  of  its  taking  her  down  to  the  house  of  its 
parents  in  the  water,  and  that  while  she  was  there,  the 
Sits-shrai-wa  had  put  that  magic  power  into  her  hair, 
and  ever  afterwards,  whenever  she  washed  her  hair,  the 
power  would  be  exercised.  As  time  went  on,  she  grew  to 
be  a  woman ;  her  grandmother  died  and  she  was  married. 

One  day  her  husband  went  with  the  other  men  to  war 
with  another  people,  and  while  he  was  gone  another 
woman  who  resembled  his  wife  exactly,  wishing  to  become 
his  wife,  contrived  to  throw  the  real  wife  into  the  deep 
water  and  drowned  her,  as  she  supposed.  At  last  the  hus 
band  returned.  He  looked  and  looked  at  the  woman  and 
said :  l '  You  look  like  my  wife,  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
you  are. ' '  Then  he  asked  her  to  wash  her  hair  and  shake 
it  on  a  cloth,  but  when  she  shook  her  hair,  no  beautiful 
stones  or  metal  fell  from  it.  The  woman  said  that  her 
hair  had  lost  that  power.  Still  he  was  not  happy  and 
would  walk  along  the  shore  and  look  off  into  the  deep 
water.  One  day  when  he  was  out  on  the  water  where  it 
was  very  deep,  he  was  looking  down  into  the  depths  when 
he  saw  a  woman  rise  out  of  the  water.  He  was  terribly 
frightened,  but  she  told  him  that  she  was  his  wife.  Then 
he  wanted  to  take  her  home  with  him,  but  she  refused, 
saying  that  when  he  put  the  other  woman  away  she  would 
come  back. 

The  husband  went  home  and,  striking  the  other 
woman  in  the  breast  with  a  spear,  killed  her ;  then  he  car 
ried  the  body  away  from  the  settlements  and  laid  it  down 
and  went  down  to  the  water's  edge.  Presently  his  wife 
appeared  and  they  went  home,  and  from  her  hair  still 
would  fall  the  beautiful  stones  and  metal,  when  it  was 
washed  and  shaken ;  the  magic  gift  of  the  Sits-shari-wa. 


I-STO-A-MOOT  AND  HI-STCHI-AN  KO-A-SUTS. 


A  long  time  ago  there  lived,  somewhere  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Ko-wais-chu-nm  Kot  a  character  named  Hi- 
stchi-an  Ko-a-suts.  He  was  widely  known  as  a  wizard 
and  a  very  bad  man,  and,  in  consequence,  he  was  greatly 
feared  by  the  people  throughout  the  country.  Now  and 
then  he  would  pay  a  secret  visit  to  Kush  Kut-ret  and 
would  carry  away  with  him  to  his  home  in  the  mountains 
some  man's  wife  or  daughter.  These  women,  as  he  tired 
of  their  company,  he  locked  up  in  the  caves,  then  sallied 
forth  in  search  of  others. 

One  day  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts  stole  the  wife  of  I-ste- 
a-moot  and  carried  her  away.  I-sto-a-moot  was  a  man  of 
considerable  note  at  Kush  Kut-ret.  He  was  brave  as  a 
lion.  He  did  not  share  the  awe  in  which  the  other  people 
held  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts.  Moreover  he  was  skillful  in 
the  use  of  the  bow  and  versed  in  all  the  cunning  of  his 
race.  As  soon  as  he  discovered  that  his  wife  had  been 
carried  away  by  the  wizard  he  started  in  pursuit.  He 
traveled  on  and  on  for  a  long  time  without  discovering 
any  clue  to  aid  him  to  find  his  wife  or  her  abductor.  One 
day,  when  he  was  almost  despairing  of  success,  he  came 
upon  a  little  boy  who  was  engaged  in  catching  snow  birds 
with  snares  made  of  hair.  '  This  sport  amused  I-sto-a- 
moot.  He  pulled  out  some  of  his  own  long  hair,  con 
structed  snares  from  it  and  went  to  work  catching  birds. 
(Soon  he  and  the  boy  were  on  very  good  terms.  When 
they  had  caught  a  great  many  birds,  the  boy  gathered  up 
his  snares  and  said  that  he  would  have  to  go  home,  as  it 
was  getting  late.  He  asked  I-sto-a-moot  to  accompany 
him,  and  I-sto-a-moot  readily  consented.  When  they 
reached  the  boy's  home  the  boy  threw  the  birds  in  at  the 


I-STO-A-MOOT    AND    HI-STCHI-AN    KO-A-SUTS  123 

door  of  the  house.     They  fell  in  a  great  heap  upon  the 
floor. 

"My!"  exclaimed  his  mother  from  within.  "You 
are  getting  to  be  a  great  hunter,  my  son." 

"It  was  not  I  who  snared  the  birds,  but  my  friend, 
I-sto-a-moot,  who  is  with  me  here." 

The  mother  invited  I-sto-a-moot  in  and  welcomed 
him  warmly.  He  soon  discovered  that  she' was  a  fairy. 
He  related  his  story  and  told  her  that  it  was  his  search  for 
his  wife  that  had  brought  him  into  that  part  of  the  coun 
try.  The  fairy  entreated  him  to  remain  at  her  house  over 
night,  saying  that  in  the  morning  she  would  lend  him  her 
aid  to  find  his  wife. 

The  next  morning  she  told  him  that  his  wife  had 
been  stolen  away  by  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts,  a  great  ma 
gician,  who  lived  in  the  Ko-wai s-chum-mu  Kot;  but  that, 
if  he  would  follow  her  instructions,  he  need  have  no  fear 
in  encountering  the  wizard.  She  gave  him  a  large  knife, 
seemingly  of  flint,  a  suit  of  clothes  and  a  chair,  and  told 
him  to  exchange  these  things  for  the  ones  owned  by  Hi- 
stchi-an  Ko-a-suts.  She  advised  him  that  he  would  come 
to  a  deep  river,  and  she  gave  him  a  little  bag  of  medicine 
to  chew  and  blow  upon  the  water  which  would  then  become 
still  so  that  he  would  be  able  to  cross  over  it. 

I-sto-a-moot  left  the  house  of  the  fairy  and  set  out 
for  the  house  of  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts,  which  he  reached 
after  many  trials  and  hardships.  He  found  that  Hi-stchi- 
an  Ko-a-suts  was  not  at  home,  so  he  entered  the  dwelling 
and  was  surprised  to  find  himself  welcomed  by  his  own 
wife.  She  told  him  that  the  wizard  was  out  at  the  end 
of  the  world,  Ko-wai-sho  Putch,  running  races  with  Shi- 
wu-na.  His  wife  wanted  to  go  back  to  Kush  Kut-ret  at 
once,  but  I-sto-a-moot  was  desirous  of  seeing  Hi-stchi-an 
Ko-a-suts,  and  of  fighting  him.  Before  the  wizard's  re 
turn  I-sto-a-moot  succeeded  in  obtaining  his  knife,  his 


124  SCHAT-CHEN 

coat  and  his  chair.  In  place  of  these  he  left  the  ones  he 
had  received  from  the  fairy. 

When  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts  returned  to  his  home 
that  evening  and  found  I-sto-a-moot,  he  was  in  a  towering 
rage.  He  threatened  and  stormed  and  was  going  to  make 
an  end  to  I-sto-a-moot  at  once  but  I-sto-a-moot  put  on  such 
a  bold  front  that  he  altered  his  intention,  but  declared  he 
must  fight  with  him  on  the  day  following.  The  next 
morning  the  two  put  on  their  fighting  dress  and,  arming 
themselves,  went  forth  to  battle. 

"Now,"  said  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts,  when  they  met> 
"I  am  going  to  show  you  how  powerful  I  am.  With  a 
single  blow  of  my  flint  knife  I  will  knock  off  the  top  of  the 
Ko-wais-chum-mu  Kot.  Can  you  do  such  a  wonder?" 

"Certainly,"  said  I-sto-a-moot,  "I  have  done  even 
greater  wonders." 

"Then  throw,"  exclaimed  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts. 
"You  are  a  boaster." 

"Cast  your  knife  first,"  said  I-sto-a-moot.  "If  you 
cut  off  the  top  of  the  mountain  I  will  acknowledge  you  the 
victor  and  will  go  back  to  Kush  Kut-ret  defeated. ' ' 

So  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts  threw  his  knife.  But,  in 
stead  of  cutting  off  the  top  of  the  mountain,  it  only  pasted 
itself  against  its  side,  for  this  was  the  knife  which  the 
fairy  had  given  to  I-sto-a-moot,  and  it  was  made  of  wax. 

Then  I-sto-a-moot  threw  his  knife  and  cut  off  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  for  the  knife  which  he  threw  was  the 
magic  knife  of  the  wizard. 

"Wizard  and  conjurer,"  yelled  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a- 
suts,  "the  fight  is  not  yet  finished.  Tomorrow  we  will 
fight  with  fire. ' ' 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning,  they  made  prepara 
tions.  Each  one  built  up  a  large  heap  of  wood.  Upon 
these  heaps  they  placed  their  chairs  and,  after  setting  fire 
to  the  piles  of  wood,  they  climbed  into  their  respective 
seats  and  awaited  the  issue. 


I-STO-A-MOOT    AND    HI-STCHI-AN    KO-A-SUTS  125 

The  chair  used  by  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts  was  the  one 
made  for  I-sto-a-moot  by  the  fairy.  It  was  made  of  wax, 
as  was  the  coat  that  he  wore.  These  quickly  melted  in  the 
flames,  so  that  the  wizard  was  soon  burned  to  a  cinder. 

The  chair  of  I-sto-a-moot  and  the  coat  which  he  wore 
were  the  ones  taken  from  Hi-stchi-an  Ko-a-suts.  They 
were  made  of  ice ;  and  they  melted  and  extinguished  the 
fire. 

When  the  wizard  had  been  thus  disposed  of,  I-sto-a- 
moot  took  his  wife  and  all  the  other  women  that  Hi-stchi- 
an  Ko-a-suts  had  imprisoned  in  a  cave,  back  to  Kush  Kut- 
ret,  and  the  people  were  never  again  in  fear  of  the  wizard. 


y 


^ 


SUT-SU-NUTS 


SUTSU-NUTS,  THE  EULEE  OF  THE  KA-TSI-NA. 


This  tradition  is  badly  mixed  up,  but  it  shows  that  these  Queres 
people  must  have  had  at  some  time  communication  with  people  who 
were  cannibals,  probably  the  Caribes.  According  to  some  early  accounts 
of  these  islanders  they  were  canibals.  These  bags  containing  the  stars 
were  apertures  in  the  wall  from  which  this  old  astronomer  watched 
the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  no  doubt. 


It  was  an  ancient  custom  at  Kush  Kut-ret  for  all  the 
people  to  go,  upon  a  certain  day,  to  gather  wood  for  the 
uses  of  the  households.  On  one  of  these  occasions  one  of 
the  daughters  of  the  ruler  of  the  city  encountered  iSutsu- 
nuts,  the  ruler  of  the  Ka-tsi-na.  They  had  met  before 
under  like  conditions,  so  iSutsu-nuts  addressed  the  maiden 
and  offered  to  help  her  break  the  wood  and  tie  it  into  a 
bundle  so  that  it  might  be  more  easily  carried. 

As  they  worked  along  together,  Sutsu-nuts  proved  so 
helpful  and  agreeable  to  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  that,  when  on 
parting,  he  asked  her  to  accompany  him  as  his  wife  to  his 
home  in  the  far  west,  she  consented  to  go  with  him,  pro 
vided  her  parents  raised  no  objection.  Sutsu-nuts  agreed 
to  wait  four  days  for  her,  in  which  time  she  was  to  con 
sult  with  her  people  and,  if  no  obstacle  was  interposed, 
was  to  join  him  again,  prepared  for  the  journey. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  returned  to  Kush  Kut-ret  with  a 
light  heart  and  a  nope  that  her  parents  would  find  no  ob 
jection  to  a  man  so  powerful  and  renowned  as  Sutsu- 
nuts.  Her  hope  did  not  prove  groundless,  for  her  father, 
her  mother  and  her  three  sisters  readily  assented  to  her 
alliance  with  the  ruler  of  the  Ka-tsi-na.  Her  sisters  lent 
their  assistance  in  her  preparations  for  the  journey. 
They  washed  and  combed  her  long,  black  hair  and  braided 
it  in  two  braids.  Inside  each  braid  they  put  a  package 
containing  pollen  from  the  corn  tassel.  When  her  prepar- 


128  SCHAT-CHEN 

ations  had  been  completed,  she  took  leave  of  her  people 
and  set  out  for  the  place  where  she  had  left  Sutsu-nuts. 
She  found  him  awaiting  her  coming. 

Together  they  proceeded  westward  until  they  came 
to  a  big  water  that  was  wide  and  deep.  Soon  after  cross 
ing  this,  they  arrived  at  the  home  of  Sutsu-nuts.  The 
mother  of  the  ruler  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  welcomed  Ko-chin- 
ni-na-ko  to  her  new  home,  and  everything  went  smoothly 
for  a  time,  until  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  discovered  that  the 
bread  set  before  her  was  made  from  dough  mixed  with 
human  blood.  She  refused  to  eat  the  bread.  When  she 
next  went  to  carry  water,  she  extracted  some  pollen  from 
one  'of  the  packages  in  her  hair  and  ate  it.  Then  she 
threw  some  of  the  pollen  into  the  big  water.  Thus  she 
lived  for  several  days,  but  finally  she  ate  all  the  pollen, 
and  was  in  despair  as  to  how  she  would  be  able  to  live, 
for  she  had  resolved  that  she  would  never  eat  the  bread 
of  Sutsu-nuts.  While  she  was  in  the  midst  of  the  dilem 
ma,  an  old  spider  woman  came  to  her  and  whispered  in 
her  ear : 

"Now  that  your  heavenly  food  is  all  gone,  iSutsu-nuts 
will  compel  you  to  eat  the  bread  made  from  dead  people's 
blood.  You  must  not  remain  here,  but  must  return  to 
your  father  at  Kush  Kut-ret. ' ' 

So  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  took  a  jar  and  went  to  the  big 
water.  As  she  stood  upon  the  brink,  one  of  the  beings 
that  lived  in  the  water  spoke  to  her,  saying : 

"When  I  was  hungry,  you  fed  me  with  corn  pollen. 
For  having  thrown  the  pollen  into  the  water,  I  love  you. 
If  you  wish  to  return  to  Kush  Kut-ret,  I  will  take  you 
across  the  big  water.77 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  left  her  water  jar  upon  the  shore 
without  hesitation  and  went  with  the  being  that  lived  in 
the  water. 

When  Sutsu-nuts  returned  to  his  home  to  find  that 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  gone,  he  was  very  angry.  He  went 


SUTSU-NUTS,    THE    RULEK    OP    THE    KA-TSI    NA  129 

to  the  margin  of  the  water,  where  she  had  left  the  jar,  and 
called  aloud  four  times,  asking  the  beings  that  lived  in 
the  water  if  they  knew  where  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  gone. 
At  the  fourth  call  the  beings  answered  that  she  had  gone 
to  Kush  Kut-ret,  because  she  did  not  like  the  food  he  had 
given  her.  Then  Sutsu-nuts  went  and  called  all  of  his 
followers,  the  Ka-tsi-na,  and  started  in  pursuit.  They 
crossed  the  big  water  and,  after  traveling  a  night  and  a 
day,  they  scattered  out  over  the  country.  In  this  man 
ner  they  soon  found  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 's  trail.  They  ran 
with  incredible  swiftness," so  that  they  soon  overtook  her; 
and  they  struck  her  with  a  heavy  club  upon  the  calf  of  the 
leg,  felling  her  to  the  ground.  Then  they  returned  to 
their  own  country,  leaving  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  for  dead. 

All  night  long  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  lay  unconscious.  In 
the  morning  when  the  sun  came  up  and  warmed  her,  she 
recovered  her  senses.  Still  she  did  not  move.  She  was 
unable  to  continue  her  way.  At  noon  two  sons  were  born 
to  her.  These  were  strong  and  rugged  infants;  and  they 
rolled  upon  the  sand  and  kicked  up  their  heels  in  the  air 
and  crowed  to  see  the  trees  and  rocks  around  them  and 
the  bright  sun  looking  at  them. 

In  a  crevice  of  the  high  cliff  not  far  from  where  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko  and  her  two  sons  were  lying,  there  was  a 
nest  of  Chit-ta  Ma-ka-na,  or  white  crows.  The  young  ones 
said  to  their  parents:  "We  see  something  yonder  upon 
the  sands.  It  looks  like  a  doe  with  two  fawns.  Allow  us 
to  go  and  bring  the  little  ones  up  to  our  nest  so  that  they 
may  play  with  us. " 

The  old  crows  consented,  and  away  the  little  crows 
went  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  their  new  playfellows. 
However,  they  soon  returned  to  the  nest  and  told  their 
parents  that  what  they  had  seen  was  not  a  deer  but  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko,  the  daughter  of  Hutch-a-mun  Kai-ok. 
Upon  hearing  this,  the  old  crows  went  down  and  conduct- 


130  SCHAT-CHEN 

ed  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and  her  two  boys  up  to  the  nest  and 
cared  for  them. 

The  sons  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  grew  very  fast  and  soon 
began  to  run  about  and  climb  upon  the  rocks.  One  day, 
seeing  some  rabbits,  they  said  to  their  mother :  t  i  What 
are  those  little  white  animals  that  are  running  about? 
May  we  not  catch  them?"  Their  mother  told  them  to  go 
to  Father  Chit-ta  Ma-ka-na  and  get  him  to  help  them. 

Father  Chit-ta  Ma-ka-na  made  for  each  of  them  a 
bow  and  arrows  and  instructed  them  how  to  use  them. 
So  the  boys  soon  became  hunters.  After  they  had  been 
at  the  home  of  the  Chit-ta  Ma-ka-na  for  a  long  time,  the 
boys  said  to  their  mother : 

"Mother,  tell  us  of  our  father.    Who  is  he?" 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  toM  them  that  their  father  was  a 
bad  man  who  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  big  water. 

Then  they  asked  her:  "Who  is  our  grandfather?" 

She  told  them  that  their  grandfather  was  Hutch-a- 
mun  Kai-ok,  the  ruler  of  Kush-kut-ret,  and  that  she  in 
tended,  in  four  days,  to  send  them  to  his  city  to  see  him. 

After  that  the  boys  were  all  impatience  to  set  out  for 
the  city  of  their  grandfather.  The  four  days '  preparation 
for  the  journey  seemed  endless.  But  they  passed,  and, 
early  one  morning,  the  sons  stood  before  their  mother  to 
receive  her  final  instructions  and  to  take  leave  of  her. 
Their  mother  directed  them  to  enter  the  city  from  the 
south;  to  approach  their  grandfather's  house,  which  they 
would  ksow  by  its  three  ladders  standing  side  by  side, 
with  parrots  perched  upon  the  tops,  from  the  south ;  and 
to  enter  the  dwelling  from  the  south  entrance.  She  told 
them  that  their  grandfather  had  a  room  where  he  played 
with  the  stars ;  that  he  would  require  them  to  guess  what 
stars  were  contained  in  the  bags  hanging  upon  the  walls 
of  the  room.  She  enjoined  them  to  remember  that  on  the 
north  wall  hung  a  bag  containing  the  Mai-chin,  the  seven 
stars  in  the  Big  Dipper;  on  the  west  wall  hung  iSu-qi-she, 


SUTSU-NUTS,    THE    KULEK    OF    THE    KA-TSI    NA  131 

the  Pleiades ;  on  the  east  wall,  Si-usphs  or  Chi-asps, 
Orion's  Belt;  on  the  south  wall,  Kai-ti-tu-wi,  the  Scorp 
ion.  Finally  she  told  them  that  they  must  procure  for 
her  from  her  father  some  wearing  apparel,  for  Sutsu-nuts, 
before  leaving  her  for  dead  upon  the  sand,  had  stripped 
her  of  her  clothing. 

So  the  boys  set  out  for  Kush  Kut-ret  and  the  home  of 
their  grandfather.  After  long  wanderings  and  many 
hardships  and  strange  adventures,  they  arrived  at  the 
city.  The  old  ruler  came  out  to  receive  them.  They  were 
naked  and  their  hair  had  never  known  a  comb,  so  he  sup 
posed  them  to  be  from  a  strange  people. 

After  the  boys  had  been  fed,  the  ruler  asked  them 
to  enter  the  room  where  he  kept  the  stars.  Then  he  told 
them  that,  unless  they  were  able  to  guess  what  the  bags 
hanging  against  the  wail  contained,  he  would  take  their 
hearts  out;  but  that,  if  they  made  correct  guesses,  they 
should  have  his  heart. :  He  pointed  his  finger  at  the  bags, 
one  by  one,  and  told  the  boys  to  guess.  Each  time  they 
made  the  correct  answers.  When  the  contents  of  all  the 
bags  had  been  named  by  them,  Hutch-a-mun  Kai-ok  laid, 
himself  down  and  told  them  they  had  won  and  it  was 
their  right  to  take  his  heart.  But  the  boys  protested  that 
they  did  not  want  his  heart.  He  arose,  very  much  sur 
prised,  and  asked: 

"Who  are  you  that  you  do  not  receive  your  dues?" 

Then  they  told  him  their  story.  They  related  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko  's  persecution  by  Sutsu-nuts,  her  escape,  her 
flight,  her  capture  and  subsequent  punishment,  their  own 
strange  birth  and  stranger  adoption  by  the  white  crows. 
They  told  him  that  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  sent  them  to  him 
to  request  that  he  send  her  suitable  apparel  in  which  to 
appear  before  her  people. 

When  they  had  finished,  the  old  man  took  them  on 
his  knee  and  told  them  that  he  recognized  them  as  his 
grandchildren.  Then  he  had  them  washed  and  dressed 


132  SCHAT-CHEN 

and  combed,  and  sent  them  back  with  clothes  and  presents 
and  a  welcome  home  for  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  The  boys 
hastened  their  return  to  the  home  of  the  White  Crows, 
where  they  had  left  their  mother.  They  delivered  the 
clothing  to  her,  and  the  presents  and  message  sent  by 
her  father. 

When  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  donned  the  new  clothes, 
she  and  her  two  sons  set  out  for  Kush  Kut-ret ;  and,  after 
long  journeying,  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder  that 
led  up  to  the  ruler's  house. 

Hutch-a-mun  Kai-ok  had  placed  all  his  household 
gods  in  ceremonial  order;  had  gathered  all  of  his  family 
around  him  and  had  instructed  its  members  not  to  cry  or 
to  make  any  demonstration  when  they  welcomed  Ko-chin-^ 
ni-na-ko  back,  until  the  earth  trembled.  ' l  For,  if  you  do 
cry,"  he  said,  "something  terrible  will  happen. "  When 
he  had  given  these  directions,  he  sang  this  song: 

A-mo  sa-mak  ha-we-op.     Hish-o-me  shrot-sin-ni-ya 

Ha-we-op  ti-i  I-ye-ti-ko  kapsch  i-an-ni.    Ti-chu-qa-ya. 

Shrot-sin-niya  ka-ma.    Em-me-he  shrot-sin-ni-ya. 

I-ye-ti-ko  kapsch  nup-si.     Nup-si  shrot-sin-ni-ya. 

Ka-ma  ni-qe-i-ko  I-ye-ti-ko  ya-ni-nu  kot-sin-ni-ya. 

Huk-ko,  ko-qe-ya  I-ye-ti-ko.    Huk-ko,  ka-ma  shrot-sin- 
ni-ya. 

I-ye-ti-ko  i-an-ni  sin-na  ko-qe-ya." 

Translation :  My  dear  daughter,  come  in ;  for  your 
sake,  come  in.  Here  is  I-ye-ti-ko  in  front.  Sit  here.  For 
your  sake,  I  go.  That  is  why — for  your  sake.  I  will  go 
in  first  to  I-ye-ti-ko.  I  go  in,  my  love.  Look!  I  go.  I 
will  place  I-ye-ti-ko  in  front,  for  her  sake.  Now  I  place 
I-ye-ti-ko.  Now  I  go  for  your  sake.  I-ye-ti-ko  first  in 
front  place. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and  her  sons,  one  on  each  side  of 
her,  stopped  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder  leading  to  the  roof 
of  the  house,  and  called: 

"Father,  Hutch-a-mun  Kai-ok,  mother,  Ko-chin-ni- 


SUTSU-NUTS,  'THE    RULEK    OF    THE    KA-TSI    NA  133 

na-ko,  sister  Qisch-kin-ni-na-ko,  sister  Ko-kin-na-ko,  sis 
ter,  Ka-  sha-na-ko,  do  you  still  love  me  ?  Do  you  welcome 
me  home?" 

All  in  concert  answered:  "Yes,  Yes.  We  still  love 
you  and  we  welcome  you." 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and  her  two  sons  ascended  the  lad 
der  to  the  top  of  the  house,  for  the  entrance  was  by  means 
of  a  hole  in  the  roof.  Here  they  pasued,  and  Ko-chin-ni- 
na-ko  called  again,  as  she  had  before,  and  received  the 
same  answer.  They  went  down  to  the  floor  of  the  second 
story  of  the  house.  Again  she  called,  and  again  the 
answer  was  repeated.  Then  they  began  to  descend  the 
ladder  into  the  room  where  the  family  was  assembled, 
aiwaiting  them.  When  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  reached  the  last 
rung  of  the  ladder,  she  stopped  and  called  again  to  her 
father,  mother  and  sisters.  As  she  did  so,  Ka-sha-na-ko, 
her  sister,  began  to  cry. 

At  that  moment  Sutsu-nuts,  who  had  discovered  that 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  not  dead,  and  who  had  followed 
her,  rushed  down  the  ladder,  caught  her  and  her  two  boys 
in  his  arms  and  carried  them  away.  And  they  never 
came  back,  nor  were  they  ever  seen  again  by  any  that 
knew  them. 


QI-YO  KE-PE. 


This  village  was  located  probably  on  the  Mississipi  river.  Natchez 
sounds  like  a  Queres  name.  Some  of  their  names  for  places  are  very 
peculiar.  This  name  may  have  been  Nah-stchis,  meaning  six  directions 
of  view,  literally  it  means  six  eyes. 

From  the  fact  of  the  house  spoken  of  in  this  story,  being  thatched 
with  big  leaves,  it  is  evident  that  it  must  have  been  in  a  tropical  or 
semi-tropical  climate.  And  the  village  of  Kush-Kutret  being  in  the 
same  latitude  must  have  been  in  a  similar  climate. 

When  the  people  lived  in  the  Rush  Rut-ret,  on  the 
bank  of  a  great  river,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Hutch-a- 
mun  Rai-ok,  the  ruler,  became  afflicted  with  the  disease 
called  Rai-ot,  the  scab. 

All  the  medicine  men  of  the  village  were  summoned. 
They  counseled  together,  recited  their  spells,  performed 
their  incantations,  but  without  avail. 

Now  it  was  known  that  many  miles  to  the  west,  be 
yond  four  deep  rivers,  there  dwelt  an  old  woman,  Qi-yo 
Re-pe,  in  a  house  thatched  with  big  leaves,  who  was 
skilled  in  the  use  of  medicine.  When  Hutch-a-mun  Rai- 
ok  found  that  his  daughter  grew  no  better  under  the 
treatment  of  the  medicine  men,  he  determined  to  send 
for  91-7°  Re-pe.  To  this  end,  he  dispatched  the  war  cap 
tain  to  the  west  to  bring  her  to  Rush  Rut-ret.  The  jour 
ney  proved  a  difficult  one  for  the  war  captain  on  ac 
count  of  the  four  big  rivers  which  lay  between  Rush 
Rut-ret  and  the  home  of  the  medicine  woman.  After 
overcoming  many  obstacles,  he  finally  found  her  and 
persuaded  her  to  return  with  him  to  the  Rush  Rut-ret. 

When  they  reached  the  bank  of  the  first  river,  the 
old  woman  took  off  her  moccasin,  as  if  to  shake  the  sand 
out,  when  a  herd  of  deer  and  antelope  and  buffalo  and 
all  the  other  animals  of  the  forests  and  plains  sprang 
into  existence.  This  seeming  witchcraft  frightened  the 
war  captain.  He  hurried  the  old  woman  across  the 
stream  and  they  traveled  as  fast  as  they  could  until  they 


,QI-YO    KE-PE  135 

came  to  the  bank  of  the  second  river.  Here  Qi-yo  Ke-pe 
removed  her  other  moccasin  and  again  shook  it  as  if  to 
shake  out  the  sand,  when  all  the  different  kinds  of  birds 
came  forth,  singing.  The  war  captain  was  now  more  ter 
rified  than  ever. 

When  they  reached  the  bank  of  the  third  river,  the 
old  woman  again  took  off  her  moccasin.  She  shook  the 
sand  out  of  it  and  this  time  all  the  reptiles  of  the  bogs 
and  rocks  came  forth. 

At  the  bank  of  the  fourth  river,  Qi-yo  Ke-pe  again 
took  off  her  moccasin  and  shook  it  and  thousands  of  in 
sects  of  all  kinds  buzzed  forth.  The  war  captain  was  in 
a  panic  of  fright,  and  he  hurried  along  faster  than  ever 
until  they  reached  Kush  Kut-ret. 

The  medicine  woman  found  the  daughter  of  the 
ruler  of  the  city  very  sick  and  covered  with  sores.  Yet, 
not  dismayed,  she  began  her  ministrations.  She  used  no 
medicine  except  water,  but  that  continuously,  so  that 
within  three  or  four  days'  time  the  patient  had  almost 
fully  recovered.  Then  the  war  captain  was  sent  to  con 
duct  Qi-yo  Ke-pe  back  to  her  home. 

The  medicine  men  had  meantime  held  a  consultation 
by  which  it  was  determined  that,  since  Qi-yo  Ke-pe  had 
been  able  to  effect  a  cure  where  they  had  failed,  the  only 
way  in  which  they  could  regain  the  confidence  of  the 
people  was  to  kill  her.  This  they  determined  to  do.  >So 
they  followed  the  trail  of  the  medicine  woman  until  they 
reached  her  home.  She  asked  them  to  come  within,  but 
they  refused,  saying  that  they  had  come  to  warn  her  that 
in  four  days  they  would  return  and  put  her  and  her  fam 
ily  to  death. 

The  old  woman  took  up  the  broom  and,  shading  her 
eyes  as  she  looked  at  the  sun,  she  began  to  sweep  the 
floor.  As  she  swept  she  cried : 

' i  Qi-y°  Ke-pe  ko-tchu-ma,  Qi-yo  Ke-pe  ko-tshu-ma, 
Kats-o-e-tu-i-na.    Ko-wa-schum-ma  stcha. 


136  SCHAT-CHEN 

Ai-kut-to-ri-na,  ai-kut-to-ri-na. 
Qi-yo  Ke-pe  tcho-sto. 
Free  translation: 

Qi-yo  Ke-pe  is  not  with  you  classed, 
Qi-yo  Ka-pe  is  above  your  caste. 
Tens  over  tens  of  years  shall  come  and  go, 
Before  the  scars  shall  cease  to  show, 
Or  trouble  cease  to  be, 
For  the  murder  of  Qi-yo  Ka-pe. 
On  the  fourth  day  the  medicine  man  returned.    They 
took  Qi-yo  Ke-pe  and  her  husband  and  her  daughter  and 
son  away  and  killed  them. 

When  Qi-yo  Ke-pe  was  dead,  all  the  animals  gave 
utterance  to  their  plaintive  cries;  all  the  birds  drooped 
their  wings  and  stilled  their  joyous  singing;  all  the  bees 
and  other  insects  buzzed  their  grief ;  all  the  reptiles 
crawled  away  and  hid  themselves. 


i 


•Hi 


THE  UNSEALING  OF  KATSINA  KUTRET. 


This  tradition  goes  to  show  that  the  Nowish  or  Katsina  people, 
commonly  known  as  the  Toltecs,  were  known  to  the  Queres,  who  sent 
scouts  to  locate  them.  They  sopke  the  same  language,  were  an  earlier 
colony  of  the  same  stock.  Later  tradition  shows  them  located  in  a 
deep  valley  in  Arizona,  somewhere  near  the  Rio  Gila. 

When  the  people  came  from  Ship-op,  they  sent  two 
scouts  ahead  to  find  the  door  to  the  Katsina  Kutret  that 
had  been  sealed  up  for  years ;  but  for  some  sin  the  scouts 
were  turned  to  clowns  and  they  returned  without  accom 
plishing  anything.  They  were  sent  again  and  they  made 
inquiries  wherever  they  went  as  to  how  they  might  find 
the  door  of  the  place.  They  asked  the  Oshatch  Pai-at- 
yum-ma,  the  guide  of  the  sun.  He  told  them  that  they 
would  find  it  in  the  middle  of  the  west ;  so  they  went  west 
until  they  came  near  to  the  Zuni  salt  lake,  and  there  met 
an  old  fairy  woman,  Kum-mushk  Qi-yo,  the  Spider 
Woman.  (At  that  time  Kum-mushk  Qi-yo  were  people) 
and  they  asked  her  how  to  find  the  door  of  Ka-tsi-na- 
Kut-ret. 

She  told  them  that  if  they  would  not  tell  any  one 
who  gave  them  the  information,  she  would  tell  them  all 
they  wanted  to  know.  They  promised  and  she  told  them 
to  go  to  the  old  Badger  Woman  and  she  would  open  the 
door  for  them.  They  had  no  trouble  in  finding  the  old 
Badger  Woman,  and  she  said  she  would  open  the  door. 
She  then  asked  them  who  had  sent  them  to  her  and  they 
told  her  that  the  old  fairy  woman  had  sent  them.  The 
Badger  Woman  was  angry  and  cursed  all  of  the  fairy 
women,  and  said  that  from  that  day  on  the  fairies  should 
be  insects  and  that  their  homes  should  be  on  the  water 
at  the  edge  of  the  ponds  and  rivers. 

The  old  Badger  Woman  had  a  pet  antelope  fawn  and 
she  told  the  clowns  that  they  could  go  into  the  Ka-tsi-na- 


140  SCHAT-CHEN 

Kut-ret  by  diving  down  in  the  Ma- say  Ka-ma,  the  crater 
in  the  center  of  the  Zuni  salt  lake,  and  that  in  four  days 
she  would  open  the  door.  The  clowns  did  as  they  were 
directed  and  waited  and  waited  four  years  instead  of 
four  days.  In  the  meantime,  the  Badger  Woman's  ante 
lope  had  attained  its  growth,  and  then  she  took  the  ante 
lope  with  her  and  went  to  the  door  of  Ka-tsi-na  Kut-ret. 
The  antelope  took  a  short  run  and  struck  the  door  with 
his  head  and  raised  a  great  dust.  This  he  did  four  times. 
At  the  fourth  time  the  door  flew  open  and  there  was  a 
great  explosion  and  the  Ka-tsi-na  people  came  out.  They 
were  all  yellow  and  sickly.  Because  the  people  were 
brought  forth  in  this  way,  is  the  reason  for  the  Badger 
and  Antelope  clans  having  first  place  in  the  Ka-tsi-na 
dances. 


pro  41 


Pv 

«   ' 


MASTS-TRU-OI,   THE   CLIFF   DWELLER 


MASTS-TRU-OI,  THE  CLIFF  DWELLER 


In  the  Spin-na-  Ko-ot,  or  wooded  mountains,  lived 
an  old  woman  and  her  son  Masts-tm-oi.  Their  dwelling 
was  upon  a  bench  or  shelf  of  a  towering  cliff.  Far  below 
it  lay  the  broken  plain  and  far  above  it  rose  the  lofty 
precipice.  There  was  but  one  way  to  reach  the  dwelling 
and  that  was  by  a  secret  and  dangerous  path  over  the 
face  of  the  cliff. 

Masts-tru-oi  was  a  wayward  son.  Disregarding  the 
teachings  and  prayers  of  his  mother,  he  became  an  out 
law  and  an  abductor  and  murderer  of  women.  He  never 
had  more  than  one  wife  at  a  time.  It  was  his  practice  to 
go  into  the  settlements,  marry  a  wife  and  take  her  to 
his  cliff  dwelling.  If  any  of  those  to  whom  his  fancy 
turned,  refused  him,  he  would  carry  them  off  by  force. 
But  his  restless  soul  was  not  long  satisfied  with  any 
woman,  and  one  by  one,  he  threw  them  over  the  cliffs  and 
brought  home  others  in  their  places. 

Eventually  he  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Hutch- 
-a-mun  Kai-ok,  the  ruler  of  Kush-kut-ret,  the  white  vil 
lage,  and  took  her  to  his  home.  He  soon  grew  tired  of 
her  and  began  to  seek  some  pretext  to  rid  himself  of  her. 
With  this  evil  intention  he  one  day  said  to  her : 

"Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  I  have  four  rooms  full  of  corn 
which  you  must  shell  and  grind.  One  room  full  of  blue 
corn,  one  of  white,  one  of  red  and  one  of  variegated.  You 
will  begin  on  the  first  room  tomorrow  morning  and  you 
must  have  the  corn  shelled  and  ground  into  meal  by  the 
time  I  return  in  the  evening. 


144  SCHAT-CHEN 

The  next  morning,  Masts-tm-oi,  as  was  Ms  custom, 
went  to  play  with  Shi-wu-na,  the  deity  of  the  elements, 
at  Ko-wai-sho  Putch,  the  edge  of  the  sea. 

After  he  had  departed  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  went  to  the 
corn  rooms.  She  was  dismayed  at  the  task  that  Masts- 
tm-oi  had  set  for  her,  and  sat  down  upon  a  pile  of  corn 
and  began  to  cry. 

Just  then  Kum-mushk  Qi-yo,  the  old  spider  woman, 
appeared  to  her. 

' '  Sister,  why  are  you  crying, ' '  she  asked. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  told  the  Kum-mushk-Qi-yo  what 
Masts-tru-oi,  her  husband,  had  commanded  her  to  do,  and 
said  that  she  feared  that  if  she  failed  to  perform  the  task, 
he  would  throw  her  down  the  cliff. 

"iSister,  you  must  not  cry,"  protested  the  spider 
woman.  * '  I  will  help  you  out  of  your  difficulty. ' ' 

The  old  spider  woman  left  her,  but  soon  returned, 
bringing  a  flock  of  the  Sinna  Ka-sha-na,  the  magic  tur 
keys. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and  the  spider  woman  then  fell  to 
work  and,  as  fast  as  they  shelled  the  corn,  the  magic 
turkeys  ground  it,  so  that  long  before  evening  they  had 
the  room  full  of  blue  corn  all  ground  into  meal. 

When  Masts-tru-oi  returned  from  the  Ko-wai-sho 
Putch,  he  said  to  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko : 

' ' Have  you  ground  all  the  blue  corn?" 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  led  him  to  the  corn  room  and 
showed  him  the  meal  from  the  blue  corn. 

Then  he  said  to  her: 

"Tomorrow  you  must  grind  the  room  of  red  corn 
before  I  return  in  the  evening." 

So  the  following  morning,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  went  to 
the  red  corn  room.  There  she  found  the  fairy.  The  spi 
der  woman  greeted  her  and  then  went  and  brought  her 
the  magic  turkeys. 

Again  the  magic  turkeys  ground  the  corn  while  Ko- 


THE    CLIFF    DWELLER  145 

chin-ni-na-ko  and  the  spider  woman  shelled  it ;  and  again 
the  task  was  completed  long  before  the  shades  of  even 
ing  fell  upon  the  cliffs. 

Masts-tru-oi  returned  at  nightfall  and  said  to  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko : 

' 1  Have  you  ground  all  the  red  corn  ? ' ' 

As  before  she  led  him  to  the  corn  room  and  there 
showed  him  the  meal  from  the  red  corn. 

He  said,  "Tomorrow  you  must  grind  the  room  of 
white  corn  before  I  return  in  the  evening. ' ' 

The  next  day  with  the  assistance  of  the  spider  wo 
man  and  the  turkeys,  the  white  corn  was  shelled  and 
ground  into  meal.  Again  Masts-tru-oi,  upon  his  return, 
inspected  the  work,  and  commanded  on  the  day  follow 
ing  that  the  varu gated  corn  should  be  shelled  and 
ground. 

The  last  room  full  of  corn  was  turned  into  meal  as 
the  others  had  been.  Masts-tru-oi,  when  he  found  that 
the  four  rooms  full  of  corn  were  all  ground,  offered  no 
word  of  praise  or  approbation  to  Ko -chin-ni-na-ko,  but 
said : 

"Tomorrow  you  must  go  to  the  north  side  of  the 
Ko-wais-tchum-ni  Ko-ot,  to  the  White  Lake,  Stchum-nuts 
Ko-wai-sho,  and  bring  me  back  a  jar  of  water  from  it." 

Ko- chin-ni-na-ko  was  greatly  frightened  at  this  com 
mand,  for  she  knew  that  it  was  a  great  distance  to  the 
White  Lake,  and  she  despaired  of  being  able  to  travel  so 
far  and  return  before  evening.  However,  the  following 
morning  she  set  out  with  her  jar  upon  her  head  for  the 
north  side  of  the  Ko-wais-chum-mu  Ko-ot,  the  mountain 
of  the  White  Lake.  After  traveling  for  some  distance, 
she  sat  down  to  rest,  when  the  old  spider  woman  ap 
peared  beside  her. 

'    "  Where  are  you  going,  sister  ?"  inquired  the  fairy. 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  told  her  that  Masts-tru-oi  had  sent 


146  SCHAT-CHEN 

her  to  the  White  Lake,  commanding  her  to  return  before 
evening  with  a  jar  of  water  from  the  lake. 

"Wait,"  said  the  fairy,  "  and  I  will  bring  the  White 
Lake  near.  It  is  many  miles  over  rough  and  rugged 
mountains  and  you  could  never  reach  it." 

Even  as  she  spoke,  the  distance  between  them  and 
the  White  Lake  began  to  diminish.  The  lake  came 
nearer,  nearer,  nearer;  and  then  the  Stuchum-nuts  Ko- 
wai-sho  bubbled  up  at  Ku-chin-ni-jia-ko's  feet, 

"Fill  your  jar  from  it,"  said  the  fairy,  "for  this  is 
the  white  water." 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  hardly  filled  her  jar  when  the 
lake  began  to  recede  and  it  soon  disappeared  in  the  dis 
tance.  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  took  the  jar  of  water  home  and 
waited  for  the  return  of  her  husband. 

He  came  in  the  evening  and  immediately  asked  for 
the  water  from  the  White  Lake.  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  brought 
the  water  to  him.  When  he  had  tasted  it,  he  said : 

"Surely  this  is  water  from  the  White  Lake.  Me- 
thinks  you  are  very  swift  of  foot  to  have  walked  so  long 
a  distance  in  so  short  a  time.  I  will  put  your  wonderful 
powers  to  greater  proof.  Tomorrow  you  shall  go  to  the 
Blue  Lake,  Qi-shk  Ko-wai-sho,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Ku- 
chun-na  Ko-ot,  the  East  Mountain,  and  bring  me  a  jar  of 
water  from  it." 

The  next  morning  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  started  for  the 
Blue  Lake.  Soon  the  old  spider  woman  appeared  and 
asked : 

"Where  are  you  going,  sister?/' 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  told  her  that  she  was  going  to  the 
Blue  Lake  to  get  a  jar  of  water  for  Masts-tru-oi. 

' '  You  could  never  get  there, ' '  said  the  spider  woman 
"Give  me  your  jar  and  your  shoes.  I  will  go  and  get 
the  water.  You  must  wait  here  until  I  return.  Masts- 
tru-oi  suspects  that  all  is  not  right  and  tomorrow  he  will 


MASTS-TRU-OI,    THE    CLIFF    DWELLEE  147 

follow  your  trail  to  the  Blue  Lake  to  see  if  you  really 
went  there." 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  gave  the  spider  woman  her  shoes 
and  the  water  jar,  and  the  fairy  disappeared.  She  soon 
returned,  bringing  a  jar  full  of  water  from  the  Blue 
Lake. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  thanked  her  and  took  the  water 
home.  When  Masts-tru-oi  returned  that  evening,  he 
tasted  the  water  and  said : 

"Surely  this  is  the  water  from  the  Blue  Lake." 

But  he  was  angry  and  violent  because  all  his  plans 
and  plots  against  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  come  to  nothing 
and,  finding  no  other  pretext,  he  said: 

"Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  you  are  a  witch,  a  devil.  I  am 
going  away,  but  in  four  days  I  shall  return,  and  then  I 
shall  throw  you  over  the  cliffs  and  kill  you. ' ' 

His  wife  was  greatly  terrified  by  his  words  and  his 
violent  manner.  She  said  nothing  to  him  in  answer ;  but, 
in  the  morning  after  he  had  gone  away,  she  sat  down  and 
began  to  cry. 

The  old  spider  woman  came  to  her  and  asked:  "Why 
.do  you  cry,  sister?" 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  repeated  to  the  fairy  the  terrible 
threat  that  Masts-tru-oi  had  made. 

' '  You  must  not  cry, ' '  said  the  fairy.  '  *  I  will  aid  you. 
In  three  days  I  will  come  to  you. ' 9 

After  leaving  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  the  Spider  Woman 
went  to  her  home  and  spun  a  long  thread  of  spider  web 
and  wound  it  into  a  ball.  On  the  third  day  she  had  com 
pleted  her  preparations.  She  led  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  to  a 
secret  place  on  the  cliffs  where  she  could  lower  her  down 
without  danger  or  difficulty.  Then  the  fairy  instructed 
her  as  to  the  route  she  must  pursue  in  order  to  reach 
Kush  Kut-ret ;  told  her  that  a  sister  fairy  lived  midway 
between  the  cliffs  and  the  city  and  that  her  house  might 
prove  a  place  of  refuge  in  time  of  need.  She  then  en- 


148  SCHAT-CHEN 

treated  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  to  make  all  the  haste  possible; 
then,  bidding  her  farewell  and  telling  her  not  to  look  up, 
lest  the  cord  break  and  she  fall  down  the  cliff,  she 
lowered  her  gently  to  the  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  pre 
cipice. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  did  not  linger  near  the  cliffs,  but 
starting  away  at  once  in  the  direction  of  Kush  Kut-ret. 
She  had  walked  a  long  distance  and  was  very  tired  when 
she  discovered  that  night  was  overtaking  her.  The  dark 
ness  came  on  rapidly.  Looking  back  over  her  shoulder, 
she  saw  that  big  black  storm  clouds  had  obscured  the  sun. 
She  knew  that  Shi-wu-na  was  coming  in  the  clouds  bring 
ing  with  him  his  friend,  Masts-tru-oi. 

The  storm  drove  onward  very  rapidly.  Ko-chin-ni- 
na-ko  was  in  despair  for  she  knew  that  Masts-tru-oi  must 
soon  overtake  her.  Suddenly  she  heard  some  one  call  to 
her  and,  looking  up,  she  saw  an  old  Spider  Woman  stand 
ing  near  her. 

"Come  to  my  house  out  of  the  storm, "  called  the 
fairy. 

When  they  had  reached  the  dwelling,  Ko-chin-ni-na- 
ko  exclaimed : 

' '  How  can  I  get  in  ?    Your  house  is  so  small. ' ' 

"Put  your  foot  in  at  the  door  and  instantly  it  will 
open  wide  enough  for  you  to  enter, ' '  returned  the  fairy. 

As  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  entered  the  dwelling  of  the 
(Spider  Woman,  she  glanced  back  and  saw  her  husband, 
Masts-tru-oi,  furious  and  scowling  with  rage,  riding  in 
the  clouds  with  Shi-wu-na,  the  Spirit  of  the  Storm,  who 
speaks  when  it  thunders. 

Masts-tru-oi,  looking  down  from  his  elevated  posi 
tion,  beheld  his  wife,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  Immediately  the 
thundering  voice  of  Shi-wu-na  rang  out,  echoing  from 
mountain  to  mountain  and  from  cliff  to  cliff  and  causing 
the  very  earth  to  tremble.  The  rain  and  the  hail  poured 


A    QUERES    GlKL    CARRYING   A   JAR   OF   WATER 


150  SCHAT-CHEN 

in  torrents  but  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  safe  in  the  house  of 
the  fairy,  for  the  house  was  lined  with  pitch  so  that  no 
rain  could  enter.  Though  the  lightning  flashed  from  all 
quarters,  striking  the  house  again  and  again,  it  glanced 
off  each  time  harmless. 

Masts-tru-oi,  seeing  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  ac 
complish  the  destruction  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  from  the 
clouds,  asked  his  friend,  Shi-wu-na,  to  allow  him  to 
descend  to  the  earth.  Shi-wu-na  bade  him  farewell  and 
deposited  him  on  the  ground  near  the  dwelling  of  the 
Spider  Woman. 

Meantime  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and  the  fairy  had  armed 
themselves  with  darts  of  flint,  resolved  to  resist  the  Cliff 
Dweller's  attempts  to  force  an  entrance  into  the  house. 

Masts-tru-oi  attacked  the  door  furiously  and  broke  it 
to  pieces,  but,  before  he  could  enter,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and 
the  fairy  struck  him  with  their  darts  on  the  lower  part  of 
the  legs,  breaking  them  and  bringing  him  to  the  ground. 

Soon  Masts-tru-oi  died  from  his  injuries.  Ko-chin- 
ni-na-ko  and  the  Spider  Woman  took  up  the  remains, 
carried  them  away  from  the  dwelling  and  laid  them  upon 
the  ground.  As  time  passed  away  the  flesh  fell  from  the 
bones  and  became  dust,  and  the  bones  bleached  in  the 
sunshine. 

A  few  days  after  the  death  of  Masts-tru-oi,  two  boys 
were  born  to  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  She  remained  at  the 
house  of  the  old  Spider  Woman  until  the  boys  were  able 
to  travel,  then  she  continued  her  journey  and  finally 
reached  Kush-Kut-ret  and  the  home  of  her  father. 

Years  passed  away  and  the  bones  of  Masts-tru-oi,  the 
Cliff  Dweller,  lay  whitening  under  the  sun. 

Shi-wu-na,  the  god  of  the  rain  storm,  went  often  to 
the  Ko-wai-sho  Putch  to  play,  but  his  companion  never 
came,  and  the  heart  of  Shi-wu-na  was  saddened.  No  more 
his  deep  toned  voice  was  heard  out  of  the  rain  clouds. 


THE    CLIFF    DWELLER  151 

One  day  Shi-wu-na's  mother,  Sitch-chi-na-ko,  the 
spirit  of  reason,  said  to  him.  "Why  do  you  grieve,  Shi- 
wu-na?" 

Shi-wu-na  told  her  that  Jie  grieved  because  he  feared 
that  his  friend,  Masts-tru-oi,  was  dead,  since  he  came  to 
play  with  him  at  the  edge  of  the  water. 

"I  will  discover,"  said  his  mother,  "whether  Masts- 
tru-oi  be  dead  or  not." 

Accordingly  she  moistened  her  hands  and  rubbing  a 
little  dirt  between  them,  placed  it  on  the  floor  and  covered 
it  with  a  cloth.  Soon  a  big  fly  was  produced  from  the 
dirt,  and  flew  up  and  buzzed  around.  iSitch-chi-na-ko 
caught  the  fly  and  directed  it  to  go  and  search  for  the  re 
mains  of  Masts-tru-oi. 

The  fly  flew  away  directly,  but  after  a  time  returned 
to  report  that  it  had  discovered  the  bones  of  Masts-tru- 
oi  near  the  house  of  the  old  Spider  Woman. 

Having  made  this  discovery,  Sitch-chi-na-ko  sent  for 
her  sister,  Shro-tiu-mi-na-ko,  the  spirit  of  memory,  or 
subjective  mind,  and  requested  her  to  bring  the  bones  of 
Masts-tru-oi. 

When  the  bones  had  been  brought  to  her,  Sitch-chi- 
na-ko  placed  them  carefully  in  a  heap.  Then  she  put  a 
heart  among  them  and  covered  the  whole  with  a  covering 
of  cloth. 

Sitch-chi-na-ko  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  heap 
of  bones  and,  extending  her  hands  over  them,  repeated. 

"Hash-kun-ni  o-wi-Chu-kom-mi.  Pa  pa  pa  pa  pa." 
Bones  come  together. 

As  she  spoke,  the  bones  fell  down  from  the  heap  and 
began  to  arrange  themselves  in  their  places. 

Sitch-chi-na-ko  then  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the 
bones  and,  extending  her  hands  over  them,  repeated: 

"Hash-kun-ni   o-wi-chu-ko-mi.     Pa  pa  pa  pa  pa." 


152  SCHAT-CHEN 

The  bones  rattled  over  one  another  and  joined  in 
their  places,  each  bone  in  its  proper  place. 

Then  Sitch-chi-na-ko  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the 
bones  and,  extending  her  hands  over  them  as  before,  re 
peated  : 

4 '  Hash-kun-ni  ni-a-ni-shro.  Pa  pa  pa-pa-pa. M 
(Bones  come  to  life.) 

The  covering  shook;  the  flesh  formed  on  the  skele 
ton;  the  heart  began  to  beat. 

Sitch-chi-na-ko  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  bones 
and,  extending  her  hands  over  them,  repeated: 

'kJTash-kun-ni,  hash-kun-ni,  ti-ipt-tio.  Pa  pa  pa-pa-pa. " 
(Bones,  bones  arise.) 

Immediately  Masts-tru-oi  threw  the  covering  aside 
and  arose  as  he  had  been  in  life,  except  that  he  had  a  new 
and  a  different  heart. 

Sitch-chi-na-ko  delivered  to  him  a  few  words  of  ad 
vice  and  instruction.  She  told  him  that  his  wicked  deeds 
and  his  desire  to  do  wrong  had  been  the  cause  of  his  death, 
and  that  he  must  mend  his  ways  and  strive  to  atone  for 
his  past  misdoings.  (She  then  sent  him  back  to  his  home 
in  the  cliffs. 

His  old  mother  was  overjoyed  to  see  her  son  again, 
and  rejoiced  at  the  change  that  had  been  wrought  in  him 
by  the  strange  experience  he  had  undergone. 

Again  Masts-tru-oi  went  to  the  Ko-wai-sho  Putch  to 
play  and  to  run  races  with  Shi-wu-na;  again  Shi-wu-na 
was  happy,  and  again  his  deep  voice  was  heard  echoing 
through  the  mountains. 

The  reformation  of  Masts-tru-oi  was  complete.  He 
never  again  threw  any  one  down  the  cliffs,  but  lived  long 
and  happily  with  his  mother  in  his  elevated  dwelling  on 
the  side  of  the  precipice. 


O-SRATS  PAI-TUM-MU 


RU-RTJ-KA-MOOT  AND  THE  AWL. 


This  is  a  story  of  some  one  who  left  the  colonies  in  this  country 
and  went  on  to  the  Aztecs  settlement  in  Mexico.  The  awl  spoken  of 
was  a  compass  or  magnetic  needle. 

One  day  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  who  had  been  roaming 
through  the  woods  and  over  the  hills  near  Kush-kut-ret, 
sat  down  under  a  tree  to  rest.  Soon  she  fell  asleep  un 
der  the  tree  where  a  ray  of  sunlight  came  through  the 
leaves  and  shone  upon  her.  0-srats  Pai-tum-mu,  seeing 
her,  came  down  upon  a  ray  of  sunlight  and  paid  court  to 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  awoke.  Seeing  the  0-srats  Pai- 
tum-mu,  she  was  at  first  frightened,  but  his  address  was 
so  pleasing  and  his  ways  so  winning  that  she  quickly  re 
covered  from  her  fright. 

Thereafter  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  went  every  day  to  the 
tryst  beneath  the  tree,  and  every  day  0-srats  Pai-tum-mu 
came  down  to  her  on  the  sunbeam.  At  length  they 
married.  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  kept  the  secret  from  her  peo 
ple.  This  she  was  able  to  do  the  more  easily  because 
O-srats  Pai-tum-mu  possessed  the  power  of  rendering 
himself  invisible  to  whomsoever  he  willed.  For  a  long 
time  he  continued  his  secret  visits. 

Meantime  the  people  of  Kush  Kut-ret  were  enduring 
many  hardships.  The  rains  ceased  and  the  country  be 
came  dry  and  unproductive.  No  corn  would  grow. 
Finally  it  was  determined  that,  in  order  to  save  the  peo 
ple  from  starvation,  they  must  move  into  a  more  favored 
country.  The  day  for  the  departure  was,  accordingly, 
fixed  and  the  crier  was  sent  to  notify  all  the  people  of 
the  proposed  exodus. 

On  the  night  before  the  departure,  a  boy  was  born 
to  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  Knowing  that  the  birth  of  the  boy 
would  betray  the  secret  of  her  marriage,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 


156  SCHAT-CHEN 

determined  to  leave  the  child  in  Rush  Kut-ret.  So  she 
prepared  a  recess  in  the  wall  of  the  house,  placed  the 
child  therein  and  sealed  up  the  opening.  Then  she  went 
out  with  the  other  people  to  seek  a  new  home  in  the  Qe- 
ya  pu  ko-wak.  (Outskirts  of  Southwestern  Settlement.) 

After  they  had  gone,  the  baby,  who  had  been  sleep 
ing,  awoke  and  began  to  cry.  This  sound  reached  the  ear 
of  an  old  woman  who,  being  blind,  lame,  decrepit  and  un 
able  to  travel,  had  been  left  behind.  When  she  heard  the 
cry  it  seemed  to  be  saying  these  words: 

"Ko-sha  sia-no,  si-a-no.     Ko-sha  si-a-no,  si-a-no, 

Ko-sha  si-a-no,  si-a-no, 

Yu-e-tit  Kush-kut-ret  Quisch-chi  Ko-a, 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  ai-a-mi  aquich. 

Translation  :— 

Last  night  I  was  born,  I  was. born, 

Last  night  I  was  born,  I  was  born, 

Last  night  I  was  born,  I  was  born,  I  was  born, 

From  the  north  Kush  Kut-ret,  to  the  south  of  the 
south. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  has  abused  me." 

The  old  woman  went  in  search  of  the  child  and,  at 
last,  found  it. 

The  people  had  left  food  for  the  old  woman,  and  she 
chewed  some  of  the  nuts  with  which  she  had  been  pro 
vided  and  fed  them  to  the  baby.  On  this  diet  he  grew  to 
be  a  big,  strong  youngster,  and  soon  began  to  call  the  old 
woman  '  *  grand  mother. "  As  he  grew  older,  he  was  con 
tinually  asking  his  grandmother  about  himself,  who  his 
mother  was  and  where  he  lived. 

The  old  woman  told  him  that  his  mother  was  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko,  the  daughter  of  the  ruler  of  Kush  Kut-ret, 
and  that  his  father  was  the  0-srats  Pai-tum-mu. 

The  years  passed  away  and  the  child  that  had  been  so 
cruelly  deserted  by  its  mother  and  so  kindly  fostered  by 


RU-RU-KA-MOOT    AND    THE    AWL  157 

the  old  woman  had  developed  into  a  young  man  of  very 
pleasing  appearance.  Moreover,  he  was  a  daring  and 
skillful  hunter.  He  knew  the  haunts  of  the  bear  and  the 
lion;  he  knew  the  grazing  places  of  the  deer  and  the 
antelope ;  and  he  knew  where  the  beavers  built  their  dams. 
While  still  a  mere  youth,  he  had  named  himself  ' '  Eu-ru- 
ka-moot,"  for  that  was  the  sound  that  the  stick  made 
when  he  scraped  the  hair  off  the  deerskin  preparatory  to 
tanning. 

One  evening  Eu-ru-ka-moot  was  sitting  with  his 
grandmother  before  the  fire.  He  had  been  asking  her,  as 
he  had  asked  many  times  before,  about  his  parents,  and 
what  way  the  people  went  when  they  left  Kush  Kut-ret. 
The  old  woman  had  told  him  all  she  knew,  when  an  awl, 
that  had  been  sticking  in  the  rafters  of  the  ceiling  for 
many  years,  spoke  up  and  said: 

"  Eu-ru-ka-moot,  I  will  take  you  to  where  your 
mother  is,  to  the  Qe-ya  Pu  Ko-wak.  I  will  point  the  way, 
if  you  will  carry  me  and  feed  me.  A  small  piece  of  raw 
hide  or  buckskin  will  do  for  my  food.  When  I  am  hungry, 
then  you  must  stick  me  into  the  rawhide  or  buckskin  un 
til  I  squeak. " 

Eu-ru-ka-moot  said  to  the  awl: 

"You  are  my  friend.  Some  day  we  will  go  away  to 
gether.  ' ' 

Soon  after  this  the  old  woman  died.  Then  Eu-ru- 
ka-moot  took  the  awl  down  from  the  rafters  and  started 
on  his  travels.  The  awl  pointed  the  way  to  the  south 
west,  and  Eu-ru-ka-moot  followed  whither  it  pointed.  In 
this  manner  they  pursued  their  journey  for  some  time 
without  incident,  until,  one  day,  as  Eu-ru-ka-moot  was 
sitting  upon  the  rocks  resting  and  feeding  the  awl,  he  let 
it  fall  into  a  deep  crevice.  At  first  he  was  at  his  wits 
end  to  know  how  to  recover  his  friend  and  guide ;  but  as 
he  sat  there,  looking  down  into  the  crevice  and  ponder- 


158  SCHAT-CHEN 

ing,  the  awl  spoke  to  him,  telling  him  that  there  was  an 
old  iSpider  Woman  living  near  and  that  he  must  go  and 
speak  to  her  and  get  her  to  help  him. 

Eu-m-ka-moot  soon  found  the  old  Spider  Woman 
who  greeted  him  as  her  grandson,  and  when  he  told  her 
his  troubles,  offered  her  assistance.  The  fairy  then  left 
him,  but  soon  appeared  and  gave  him  a  ball  of  cord  made 
of  spider  web.  She  instructed  him  to  drop  one  end  of 
the  cord  into  the  crevice  where  he  had  lost  the  awl.  When 
he  had  done  this,  the  old  woman  went  down  into  the 
crevice.  She  fastened  the  end  of  the  cord  to  the  awl  and 
commanded  Ru-ru-ka-moot  to  pull  on  the  line.  In  this 
manner  the  awl  was  restored  to  him.  He  thanked  the 
Spider  Woman  for  her  assistance  and  went  on  his  way 
with  a  light  heart.  They  journeyed  for  many  days  until, 
at  length,  they  arrived  at  the  Qe-ya  Pu  Ko-wak.  There 
Ru-ru-ka-moot  found  his  mother. 

At  first  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  did  not  know  him,  for  he 
had  grown  during  their  separation  from  a  new  born  baby 
to  be  a  strong,  handsome  young  man.  But  when  he  told 
her  that  he  came  from  Kush  Kut-ret  and  had  related  to 
her  his  history,  she  knew  that  he  was  her  son.  So  he  was 
received  into  the  family  of  the  ruler. 

After  remaining  a  short  time  with  his  mother,  Ru- 
ru-ka-moot  continued  journeying,  still  traveling  south- 
westward  to  the  Qe-ya  Pu  Ko-wak  Qisch-ko-a, 

It  was  known  to  Ru-ru-ka-moot  that  the  maidens  of 
this  settlement  were  renowned  for  their  beauty,  but  that 
a  wicked  enchantment  had  been  cast  over  them ;  that  any 
man  who  went  there  and  married  among  them  would 
come  under  the  spell  of  the  enchantment  and  would  surely , 
die.  However,  Ru-ru-ka-moot  took  up  his  residence  at 
the  Qe-ya  Pu  Ko-wak  Quisch  Ko-a,  and,  in  course  of  time, 
fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  maiden  of  the  place.  His 
father,  0-srats  Pai-tu-mu,  came  to  him  and  gave  him 


BU-BU-KA-MOOT   AND   THE   AWL  159 

a  magic  stick  or  wand,  and  told  him  that,  by  its  influence, 
he  would  be  able  to  break  the  spell. 

This  proved  to  be  true.  Ru-ru-ka-moot  married  the 
maiden  of  his  choice,  and  all  the  girls  of  the  settlement 
were  freed  from  the  enchantment. 


ff/ 


Kl-NAH-NE,    THE    GAMBLER 


PAIS-CHUN-NI-MOOT,  THE  FIEE  BRAND  BOY. 


This  story,  you  will  observe,  points  to  the  north  as  the  dwelling 
place  of  the  Queres  nation.  From  thence  they  migrated  south  also, 
and  indicates  one  of  the  reasons  why  they  moved  out. 

Many  years  ago,  when  the  earth  was  still  young,  a 
great  people  dwelt  in  the  Mountains  of  the  north.  For  a 
long  time  this  nation  was  prosperous  and.  there  was  an 
abundance  of  crops  in  the  land.  But  the  time  came  when 
the  rivers  ceased  to  flow  and  the  clouds  refused  to  refresh 
the  earth  with  rain  and  the  fields  lay  barren  in  the  parch 
ing  sun.  Famine  came  upon  the  people,  for  they  were 
accustomed  to  take  from  the  fields  only  so  much  of  the 
harvest  as  was  needed  for  the  winter  store. 

In  the  midst  of  the  famine,  stories  came  to  them  of 
the  rich  fields  of  the  south.  iSome  even  of  the  young  men 
who  had  wandered  far  in  search  of  game,  had  seen  these 
fields,  green  with  waving  corn  and  traversed  by  a  great 
river.  So,  despairing  of  being  able  to  feed  so  numerous  a 
people  from  the  meager  returns  of  their  almost  unpro 
ductive  fields,  the  old  men  in  the  council  determined  that 
to  move  south  would  alone  save  the  people  from  starva 
tion. 

When  this  decision  became  known,  the  women  im 
mediately  made  ready  all  that  they  could  carry  of  their 
goods ;  and  then  the  nation  turned  their  backs  upon  their 
homes  and  journeyed  toward  the  Southland. 

^Not  all  the  people  went  out,  however,  for  in  one  of 
the  villages  a  mother  and  her  child  remained.  The 
mother  soon  died,  but  the  child  lived,  for  after  his 
mother's  death  he  was  fed  by  the  birds  that  came  to  him 
every  morning  in  flocks,  bringing  seeds  and  grain. 

Time  passed.  The  child  was  no  longer  a  child,  but 
a  youth  roaming  the  mountains  and  plains  in  search  of 


162  SCHAT-CHEN 

game  and  working  daily  in  the  field,  for  the  rains  had 
long  since  returned  and  the  corn  grew  green  and  tall.  It 
had  been  the  custom  of  the  youth  from  his  earliest  child 
hood  to  scatter  corn  meal  before  the  door  every  morning 
at  the  rising  of  the  sun  as  an  offering.  One  morning,  as 
he  scattered  the  meal,  a  smooth  black  stone  was  in  the 
basin.  He  took  the  stone  and  held  it  in  his  hand,  and 
immediately  he  heard  a  voice  speaking  out  of  the  stone. 
The  youth  answered  the  voice  and  it  continued  saying: 

"I  am  your  grandmother,  and  I  live  in  the  stone. 
Your  mother  was  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  (the  daughter  of 
Hutch-u-mun  Kai-ok,  the  ruler  of  Kush  Kut-ret.  Your 
father  is  the  sun,  the  ruler  of  the  heavens." 

All  day  long  the  boy  pondered  over  the  strange 
happening.  Never  before,  within  his  memory,  had  he 
heard  the  sound  of  any  human  voice  save  his  own.  Now 
he  began  to  feel  the  weight  of  his  loneliness.  He  was 
filled  with  a  great  longing  for  companionship.  The  next 
morning,  on  going  to  scatter  the  meal,  he  saw  that  the 
sun,  in  its  coming  up,  had  drawn  very  near  the  earth,  so 
that  it  seemed  to  raise  from  immediately  behind  a  high 
mountain  in  the  east.  The  light  so  dazzled  him  that  he  fell 
upon  the  ground,  wondering  and  afraid.  Then  he  heard 
the  sun  calling  in  a  loud  voice : 

"Sa-mu-ti."     (My  son). 

The  youth  rose  and  answered,  " Naish-ti-a ! "  (My 
father!)  ' 

Then  the  sun  looked  upon  him  kindly  and  said : 

"When  I  come  up  from  the  east  four  times,  I  shall 
take  you  with  me,  for  I  have  long  desired  to  show  you  to 
my  people  to  prove  to  them  that  I  have  a  son.  Hence 
forth  you  shall  be  called  Pais-chun-ni-moot.' 

On  the  fourth  day  thereafter  the  sun  stood  above  the 
mountain.  The  youth  climbed  the  mountain,  and  the  sun 
took  him.  Then  they  journeyed  on  together,  and  at  noon 


PAIS-CHUN-NI-MOOT,    THE    FIRE    BKAND    BOY  163 

they  came  up  in  the  middle  of  a  great  room  where  all  the 
peoples  of  the  earth  were  assembled.  The  sun  spoke, 
saying : 

' '  My  people,  this  is  my  son,  Pais-chun-ni-moot,  whom 
I  have  brought  with  me  that  you  might  see  him." 

Then  the  people  took  counsel  together  and  said: 
"We  will  try,  if  he  be  the  child  of  the  sun." 

So  they  took  the  youth  into  a  room  in  the  north,  and 
the  room  was  filled  with  bees ;  but  he  caught  the  bees  and 
robbed  them  of  their  honey  and  they  did  not  sting  him. 
Then  they  took  him  to  a  room  in  the  west  that  was  filled 
with  yet  smaller  bees,  and  these  he  caught  as  he  had  the 
first,  and  was  not  stung.  Then  they  took  him  to  a  room 
in  the  south  where  the  fiercest  of  the  captive  bears  were 
kept,  and  the  youth  rode  the  bears  and  was  not  bitten 
They  took  him  to  a  room  in  the  east  and  put  him  among 
the  lions,  and  the  lions  fawned  upon  him. 

When  the  people  beheld  all  this,  they  cried  with 
one  voice :  ' '  This  is  indeed  the  child  of  the  sun. ' ' 

And  when  the  sun  saw  that  the  people  were  con 
vinced,  he  ordered  them  to  go  to  the  mountains  and 
gather  leaves.  These  they  brought  and  made  from  them 
a  bed  for  the  youth;  and  they  warmed  him  in  the  leaves 
until  he  was  made  in  the  image  of  his  father. 

Then  the  people  cried,  "Behold  Pais-chun-ni-moot! 
He  will  go  to  the  mountain  where  Kai-na-ni  dwells  and 
release  our  people." 

Now  Kai-na-ni  was  a  mighty  man  of  craft  and  cun 
ning  who  dwelt  in  a  high  mountain  of  the  west.  He  was 
a  skillful  gambler  in  a  game  of  his  own  invention.  His 
dwelling  was  a  great  cave  in  which  he  plied  his  craft  and 
imprisoned  the  people  who  were  foolish  enough  to  wager 
their  bodies  upon  the  cast  of  the  reeds.  So  numerous  had 
become  his  captives  and  so  great  his  wealth  that  the  peo 
ple  greatly  feared  him.  They  endeavored  many  times  to 
kill  him,  but  their  efforts  had  always  failed,  for  Kai-na- 


164  SCHAT-CHEN 

ni  was  a  skillful  necromancer.  So  now  they  hailed  the 
child  of  the  sun  as  the  hero  who  would  deliver  their  enemy 
into  their  hands  and  rescue  their  people  from  imprison 
ment.  In  order  that  he  might  accomplish  this,  he  made 
for  himself  implements  in  imitation  of  Kai-na-ni 's  reeds. 
With  these  he  practiced  daily  until  he  became  certain  of 
the  order  in  which  they  would  fall.  Then,  while  tEe  great 
sun  went  over  the  earth,  the  Fire-brand  Boy  went  under 
the  earth  until  he  came  to  the  mountain  where  the 
gambler  lived. 

In  order  that  he  might  not  be  surprised  by  his 
enemies,  Kai-na-ni  had  set  a  crane  to  watch  before  his 
door.  As  Pais-chun-ni-moot  approached,  the  crane  was 
so  blinded  by  the  brightness  of  his  appearance,  that  the 
was  enabled  to  pass  by  and  enter  unannounced  into  the 
dwelling.  As  he  opened  the'  door,  he  called : 

"Tso-yot,  Kai-shi  Nai-ya,  Pai-shi,  these  being  the 
names  of  the  sticks. 

Kai-na-ni  sat  upon  a  bear  skin  under  a  large  basket 
suspended  from  the  ceiling.  In  his  hand  he  held  the  reeds. 
Tso-yot,  white  with  a  black  band  around  the  middle ;  Ka- 
shi,  black  with  a  white  band  around  the  middle ;  Nai-ya, 
white,  with  black  spots ;  Pais-shi,  black  with  white  spots. 
In  the  playing,  the  gambler  threw  the  reeds  up  against 
the  bottom  of  the  basket  and  the  players  wagered  upon 
the  order  in  which  they  would  fall  upon  the  skin  beneath. 

As  Pais-chun-ni-moot  entered,  Kai-na-ni  said:  "You 
are  brave/'  Then  he  went  out  and  spoke  to  the  crane, 
* '  Why  did  you  not  warn  me  ? ' '  and  struck  the  crane  with 
a  stick  so  that  it  stooped.  Ever  since  that  day  the  legs  of 
the  crane  have  been  bent. 

Returning  to  the  cave,  Kai-na-ni  said,  "Let  us 
gamble. ' '  And  he  made  ready  to  cast  the  reeds. 

But  Pais-chun-ni-moot  said,  "See,  I  have  reeds  of 
my  own. ' '  He  took  them  from  his  pouch  and  handed  them 
to  the  gambler. 


PAIS-CHUN-NI-MOOT,    THE    FIRE    BEAND    BOY  165 

Kai-na-ni  took  them  in  his  hands  and  blew  upon  them 
and  said, ' i  They  are  good.  Let  us  gamble  with  them. ' ' 

Then  the  Fireband  Boy  lay  down  his  bundle  of  furs 
and  said,  "I  wager  this  against  all  the  people  you  have 
imprisoned  in  your  house." 

But  Kai-na-ni  hesitated,  saying,  "Let  us  eat  first." 

He  set  before  Pais-chun-ni-moot  food  mixed  with 
human  blood.  Seeing  this  Pais-chun-ni-moot  took  from 
his  wallet  honey  and  bread  and  gave  this  to  Kai-na-ni. 
When  they  had  eaten  Kai-na-ni  said  to  Pais-chun-ni- 
moot  : 

"Now  do  you  cast  the  reeds." 

But  Pais-chun-ni-moot  answered,  "I  came  as  a 
learner. ' ' 

So  Kai-na-ni  threw  the  reeds  and  lost.  The  Fire 
brand  Boy  Straight-way  released  the  imprisoned  people. 

Kai-na-ni  then  wagered  his  house  and  lost  again.  He 
wagered  his  eyes  and  lost  them  also.  Thus  was  the 
gambler  punished  for  all  his  evil  doing ;  and  Pais-chun-ni- 
moot  returned  joyfully  to  his  people. 

But  Kai-na-ni 's  heart  was  full  of  evil.  He  arose 
from  his  bed  and  felt  his  way  around  the  mountain.  In  a 
cleft  of  the  rocks  he  found  ya-ka-cha,  and  under  the  trees 
he  found  si-mus-cha.  These  he  mixed  together  with  his 
hands  and  blew  his  breath  upon  them  so  that  the  fire  came 
out  of  them  and  the  gum  was  melted.  The  flame  filled  the 
mountain,  and  the  rocks  became  like  water  which  ran  out 
of  the  cave  and  down  the  mountain  side.  The  villages 
of  the  people  were  laid  waste  and  the  valleys  were  over 
whelmed.  The  people  fled  to  the  mountains  round  about 
to  escape  the  fire  which  burned  on  for  many  days,  adding 
fresh  matter  to  the  deluge  of  melted  rock  and  defying  the 
efforts  of  all  to  stem  the  flood. 

I-sto-a-moot,  the  arrow  boy,  shot  an  arrow  in  the  air. 
As  the  shaft  went  up,  it  pierced  the  clouds  and  the  rain 
fell  and  the  fire  was  extinguished 


I 


HUTCH-A-MUN    OR   PRAYER    STICKS,    SHOWING   HOW   THE   PLUMES    ARE 
ATTACHED OFFERINGS    TO   THE   ELEMENTARY   DEITIES 


MOKI  TRADITION. 


Once  the  ruler  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  became  angry  because 
the  people  of  Moki  were  imitating  the  dance  of  the  Ka-tsi- 
na.  So  he  went  to  Moki  and  asked  the  ruler  of  the  Moki 
to  prohibit  it.  The  Moki  ruler  replied  to  the  ruler  of  the 
Ka-tsi-ma  that  the  people  of  the  Moki  would  paint  and 
dance  as  they  pleased. 

The  ruler  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  responded,  "I  will  wager 
my  people  against  the  people  of  Moki  and  we  will  play 
the  game  of  moccasin  to  decide  the  issue. ' ' 

The  Moki  ruler  agreed  to  this  and  the  ruler  of  the 
Ka-tsi-na  said,  i '  On  the  fourth  night  from  now  I  will  re 
turn  to  Moki  with  my  people. ' ' 

When  he  had  departed,  all  the  men  of  Moki  set  about 
making  Hutch-a-mun  all  but  one,  whose  name  was  iShip- 
ki.  He  was  not  popular  among  the  people,  so  he  did  not 
seek  to  mingle  with  them.  Having  nothing  to  do,  Ship-ki 
wandered  away  from  town.  As  he  was  going  along,  he 
heard  a  voice  calling : 

' '  Ship-ki,  come  here. ' ' 

He  went  toward  the  voice  and  soon  discovered  an  old 
Spider  Woman  who  said  to  him: 

"Why  are  you  not  making  prayer  sticks  as  the  other 
men  are  ? ' ' 

* '  Because  I  have  no  friends, ' '  said  he.  '  *  Everybody 
likes  to  scold  me  and  make  me  miserable. ' ' 

"You  go  to  where  they  are  at  work,"  directed  the 
fairy.  "Bring  me  a  stick,  any  kind  of  a  stick  that  they 
may  throw  away,  and  two  feathers  that  they  do  not  want ; 
and  I  will  help  you  to  make  a  Hutch-a-mun. ' ' 

Ship-ki  went  to  the  house  where  the  men  were  work 
ing  and  brought  the  stick  and  the  feathers.  The  Spider 
Woman  helped  him  and  showed  him  how  to  make  a 


I 


SHOWING  THE  CONSTRUC- 

TIQN  OF  THE  HUTCH-A-MUN 

OB  PRAYER  STICK  OFFERINGS 

TO  THE  SUN  WITHOUT  THE 

PLUMES 


THIS  DRAWING  SHOWS  HOW  THE 
HUTCH-A-MUN  OR  PRAYER  STICKS 

ARE    CONSTRUCTED 

Offering  to  Sitch-tche-na-ko  (Reason) 
without  the  plumes 


MOKI    TRADITION  169 

Hutch-a-mun.  Then  she  gave  him  a  peculiar  pot,  called 
Kai-ya-hai-ya,  shaped  like  a  shoe,  and  said  to  him. 

' '  I  will  go  with  you.  I  will  hide  behind  your  ear  and 
will  direct  you  when  the  Ka-tsi-na  come  to  play  the  moc 
casin  game." 

When  the  Ka-tsi-na  came  on  the  fourth  night  there 
after,  they  caused  a  great  crack  or  fissure  to  open  near 
the  village.  Then  they  dug  out  a  room  in  the  side  of  the 
mesa  upon  which  the  village  stood,  and  took  up  their 
quarters  in  the  room.  - 

The  ruler  of  the  Moki  brought  out  his  men  and 
ranged  them  in  four  lines  opposite  the  four  lines  of  the 
Ka-tsi-na  where  they  were  drawn  up  near  the  fissure. 

Four  moccasins  were  then  placed  between  the  forces, 
and  the  leaders  of  the  Moki  and  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  took  up 
their  positions  near  them. 

The  moccasin  game  was  played  by  placing  the  four 
moccasins  in  a  row,  and  one  of  the  contestants,  sitting  be 
hind  the  row  of  moccasins,  chanting  an  incantation  and 
making  passes  with  his  hands,  strove  to  deposit  the  stone 
in  one  of  the  moccasins  so  quickly  and  skillfully  that  the 
other  contestant  would  not  discover  which  moccasin  re 
ceived  the  stone.  The  leader  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  undertook 
to  cast  the  stone  and  the  Moki  leader  to  guess  the  moc 
casin.  The  first  cast  was  made  and  the  Moki  missed  the 
guess.  Then  the  Ka-tsi-na  cast  one  line  of  the  Moki  down 
into  the  fissure. 

As  the  Moki  leader  was  about  to  essay  a  second 
guess,  Ship-ki  climbed  upon  a  ladder  that  stood  against 
the  wall  of  the  mesa  and  shouted : 

"Choose  the  moccasin  next  to  the  wall." 
Just  at  that  moment  a  flock  of  wild  geese  settled 
down  upon  the  field  where  the  game  was  being  played  and 
began  to  dance.    A  heavy  storm  of  snow  began  to  fall  and 


THIS    IS    WHAT    IS    CALLED   A   KY'AH-HY-O 

It  te  an  earthen  pot  made  in  the  shape  of  a  boot;  after  filling  it  with 

water  the  toe  or  foot  part  is  thrust  into  the  hot  coals  and  ashes, 

where  the  contents  soon  boils 


MOKI    TBADITION  171 

the  air  grew  cold.  The  men  of  both  the  Moki  and  Ka- 
tsi-na  were  freezing. 

Ship-ki  produced  the  pot  that  the  Spider  Woman  had 
given  him  and  placed  it  in  the  midst  of  the  freezing  men. 
It  immediately  began  to  boil  and  throw  off  great  clouds 
of  steam  that  soon  melted  the  snow  and  warmed  the  air. 

While  all  this  was  going  on,  the  leader  of  the  Moki, 
hearing  Ship-ki  call  to  him  from  the  ladder,  replied : 

"Who  are  you  to  tell  me  how  to  choose?  I  am  doing 
the  choosing.7' 

He  guessed  and  lost  again,  and  another  file  of  his 
followers  were  cast  into  his  fissure. 

When  the  Ka-tsi-na  cast  the  stone  the  third  time, 
Ship-ki,  having  remounted  the  ladder,  called  out : 

"Choose  the  middle  moccasin,  next  to  the  wall." 

Hearing  him  the  leader  of  the  Ka-tsi-na,  who,  no 
doubt  thought  iShip-ki  a  foolish  fellow,  said : 

"Let  him  come  down  and  guess." 

The  Moki  leader,  having  witnessed  the  wonder 
worked  by  Ship-ki 's  magic  pot,  consented. 

Ship-ki  descended  from  the  ladder,  and  pointed  out 
the  moccasin  that  contained  the  stone.  Again  and  again 
Ship-ki  guessed  the  right  moccasin,  and  each  time  the 
Moki  cast  a  file  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  •  into  the  fissure. 

When  only  one  file  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  remained,  the 
leader  called  for  a  truce.  He  conceded  to  the  Moki  the 
privilege  of  dancing  and  painting  with  Ka-tsi-na  paint. 

When  a  treaty  had  been  concluded,  the  ruler  of  the 
Moki  approached  Ship-ki  and  said  to  him.  » 

"I  am  no  longer  in  power.  Henceforth  you  shall 
be  the  ruler.  From  that  time  Ship-ki  became  the  ruler 
of  the  Moki. 


THE  STO-RO-KA 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  STO-KO-KA  AND 
THE  KATS-TSI-NA 


The  Zuni  Indians  are  a  mixture  of  two  races.  Frank  Hamilton 
Gushing,  who  spent  a  good  many  years  among  them  studying  their 
language,  customs  and  history,  identifies  them  as  a  mixture  with  the 
ancient  cliff  dwellers,  a  branch  of  the  Nowish  or  Toltecs  and  the 
Yumas  and  this  is  how  it  happened,  according  to  Queres  version. 

The  Sto-ro-ka  or  Kur-ret-ti-kii,  are  described  as  a 
race  of  Ko-qui-ma,  or  Hermaphrodites.  They  occupied 
the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lake  that  is  known  to  the 
Qe-res  as  the  Arrosauk  and  now  called  Mormon  Lake, 
situate  south  of  Flagstaff,  Arizona. 

The  Ka-tsi-na  warred  against  the.  Sto-ro-ka  and  were 
defeated  in  a  severe  battle  fought  near  the  Jaralosa 
Spring,  north  of  the  Zuni  Salt  Lake. 

The  iSto-ro-ka  went  into  the  battle  with  bow  strings 
made  from  the  fibres  of  the  soap  weed,  while  those  of  the 
Ka-tsi-na  were  of  deer  and  antelope  sinews.  While  the 
battle  was  in  progress,  a  terrific  storm  of  rain  and  hail 
came  down  upon  the  warriors.  The  bow  strings  of  the 
Ka-tsi-na  were  wet  by  the  rain  and  soon  became  limp  and 
useless ;  while  those  of  the  Sto-ro-ka,  being  made  of  vege 
table  fibre,  were  only  rendered  more  tense  and  conse 
quently  more  efficient,  by  the  wetting. 

Thus,  by  the  aid  of  the  storm,  the  Sto-ro-ka  were 
victorious  in  the  battle,  and  soon  brought  the  Ka-tsi-na 
to  sue  for  peace.  A  treaty  was  agreed  upon  between  the 
chiefs.  In  order  to  preserve  this  treaty,  the  headman  of 
the  Ka-tsi-na  had  a  history  of  the  fight  and  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty  inscribed  upon  the  side  of  a  smooth  sand 
stone  bluff.  Below  the  writing  were  drawn  in  outline, 
three  deer,  two  bucks  and  a  doe.  This  was  the  emblem  of 
the  Ka-tsi-na. 

The  bluff  upon  which  this  strange  record  still  may  be 


THIS  FIGURE  is  CALLED  THE  SABE  NOWISH 

The  name  is,  probably,  Saba  Nowish.  Saba  was  the  Sheba 
spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures  and  this  people  may  have  come 
from  that  city  or  some  other  part  of  southern  Arabia.  The 
Zuni  Indians  are  of  the  Nowish  tribe;  they  call  themselves 
She-we.  Might  not  this  name  have  been  taken  from  Sheba? 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  STO-KOKA  AND  THE  KATS-TSI-NA      175 

seen  stands  eight  or  ten  miles  west  of  the  Jaralosa  Spring 
and  about  twenty-five  miles  northwest  of  the  Salt  Lake 
of  Zuni,  close  to  a  spring  known  to  the  natives  as  Ojo 
Benow  (Ojo  Venado.) 


PUSTS-MOOT. 


South  of  Kut-si-ma,  the  enchanted  mesa,  lived  Puts- 
moot  and  his  mother.  Puts-moot  from  his  youth  up  had 
always  been  active  and  energetic  in  all  the  sports  and  in 
the  work  which  fell  to  his  lot.  He  learned  to  trap  and  to 
hunt,  and  became  famous  among  the  people  for  his  skill 
with  the  bow. 

However,  Pusts-moot  was  not  like  other  young  men, 
for  he  had  an  enormous  head,  not  like  the  head  of  others, 
but  three  times  as  large ;  and  he  bore  a  very  ugly  and 
repulsive  visage.  This  affliction  did  not  seem  to  worry 
Pusts-moot  who  was  always  good  tempered  and  cheerful. 

On  day  the  town  crier  of  Acoma,  near  which  Pusts- 
moot  dwelt,  announced  that  on  the  fourth  day  thereafter 
the  people  would  assemble  and  go  forth  to  gather 
Hashtcha,  a  species  of  yucca,  from  which  to  make 
baskets. 

It  was  the  custom  on  such  excursions  for  each  young 
woman  to  select  from  among  the  young  men  an  escort  and 
companion  for  the  day. 

On  the  third  day,  the  day  before  the  appointed  time, 
Pusts-moot  repaired  to  Acoma,  to  learn  that  he  had  been 
chosen  to  escort  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  daughter  of  the  gov 
ernor. 

Imagine  his  surprise  at  this  intelligence !  He  of  the 
big  head  and  the  ugly  visage  had  been  elected  by  the 
beauty  of  the  town. 

Pusts-moot  returned  home  and  advised  his  mother 
of  his  good  fortune.  His  mother  said  nothing,  but  pro 
ceeded  to  prepare  lunch  for  him  to  take  with  him,  consist 
ing  of  corn  meal  cakes  shaped  into  hollow  balls  and  filled 


PUTS-MOOT  177 

with  honey.  The  next  morning  he  went  early  to  join  the 
people.  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  awaiting  him  and  they  set 
out  toward  the  east  to  Stchum-mu-ya,  the  place  of  the 
bees. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  two  sisters.  These  sisters  had 
for  their  companions  Ha-ta-we-moot  and  Shro-a-ka-moot. 
At  Stchum-mu-ya,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  and  her  sisters  with 
Pusts-moot  and  the  two  other  young  men  left  the  main 
body  of  the  people  and  went  by  themselves  to  gather  bear 
grass,  Hashtcha.  Although  this  arrangement  was  pleas 
ing  to  the  maidens  and  to  Pusts-moot,  it  did  not  please 
Ha-ta-we-moot  and  Shro-a-ka-moot,  for  they  did  not  like 
Pusts-moot,  being  jealous  of  his  fame  as  a  hunter  and 
more  jealous  of  the  favor  shown  him  by  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko. 
So  they  had  much  sport  and  made  very  merry  between 
themselves  over  his  deformities. 

At  midday  the  party  lunched,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  eating 
the  cakes  brought  by  Pusts-moot  and  Pusts-moot  eating 
those  brought  by  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  as  was  the  custom. 
After  luncheon  they  worked,  digging  the  long  leaves  of 
the  bear  grass.  For  this  purpose  they  used  a  sharpened 
stick  made  from  a  hardwood  called  Ti-y-up  which  grows 
in  rocky  places  and  resembles  a  currant  bush.  The  wood 
is  very  hard  and  is  used  also  for  making  arrows  and 
Hutch-amun,  the  prayer  sticks.  In  the  evening  the  young 
people  returned  to  Acoma,  taking  with  them  the  bundles 
of  bear  grass  they  had  gathered. 

Arriving  at  home,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  called  to  her  par 
ents  telling  them  that  she  had  come  home.  The  Ho-chin 
invited  Pusts-moot  into  the  house,  and,  drawing  him 
aside,  told  him  that  the  reason  that  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had 
selected  him  for  a  companion  was  because  she  wanted  him 
for  a  husband. 

Pusts-moot  replied  that  he  was  well  pleased  with  Ko- 


178  SCHAT-CHEN 

chin-ni-na-ko  and  desired  to  make  her  his  wife,  provided 
no  objections  were  found  by  the  Ho-chin. 

The  Ho-chin  responded  that  he  was  satisfied  with 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  's  choice. 

So  Pusts-moot  and  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  were  married, 
to  the  great  surprise  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 's  many  friends, 
who  regarded  Pusts-moot  as  a  monster  and  not  a  man. 
Soon  after  the  celebration  of  the  marriage,  Pusts-moot 
took  his  wife  to  his  mother's  house.  His  mother  was 
overjoyed  to  find  that  her  son  had  made  "such  a  con 
quest,  and  took  her  to  her  heart  at  once.  Alone  with 
her,  the  mother  asked  her  if  she  was  satisfied  with  her 
lot  now  that  she  had  married  a  man  who  was  afflicted 
not  only  with  a  horrible  deformity,  but  with  poverty  as 
well.  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  responded  that  she  was  perfectly 
contented. 

Upon  receiving  this  brave  answer,  the  mother  said: 
"  We  are  called  poor,  my  daughter,  but  in  fact  we  are  not 
so*.  Though  we  make  no  display  of  riches  still  we  are 
far  richer  than  even  the  Ho-chin,  your  father. 

The  she  took  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  by  the  hand  and, 
opening  the  door  of  a  room,  told  her  to  look  within. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  indeed  surprised  at  what  she 
beheld,  for  the  room  was  filled  with  beautiful  clothing, 
dresses,  deerskin,  ornaments  and  beads  of  turquoise. 

The  mother  took  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  by  the  hand  again 
saying,  "We  have  yet  another  surprise  in  store  for  you." 

She  led  the  wondering  girl  to  another  room  where 
hung  upon  the  wall  a  huge  and  hideous  mask  with  a  great 
shock  of  hair  upon  its  crown.  This  mask  reminded  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko  of  Pusts-moot.  While  she  was  looking  at 
it,  a  handsome  young  man  entered  the  door  and  stood 
watching  her.  As  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  turned  toward  him, 
the  mother  said,  "Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  this  is  Pusts-moot 


PUTS-MOOT  ,  179 

transformed,  and  that, "  pointing  to  the  mask,  '4s  his  de 
formity.  ' ' 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was 
pleased  with  the  transformed  Pusts-moot  and  that  they 
lived  together  happily  ever  after. 

One  day,  soon  after  the  occurrences  just  related, 
Pusts-moot  was  out  hunting,  when  he  came  upon  a  large 
plant,  the  Mush-mu-ti-ka,  or  Spanish  bayonet.  He  was 
about  to  pass  this  plant  when  he  saw  a  large  brilliantly 
colored  butterfly,  hovering  over  the  dry  stalk;  Pusts- 
moot  wondered  at  seeing  the  butterfly,  for  it  was  winter 
time,  and  determined  to  catch  it.  So  he  started  off  in 
pursuit  of  it.  As  soon  as  Pusts-moot  approached,  the 
butterfly  flew  away.  Pusts-moot  following,  over  rocks, 
around  trees  and  through  thickets,  until,  in  a  very  rocky 
place,  just  as  he  was  sure  of  catching  it,  it  disappeared 
in  the  brush.  Pusts-moot  plunged  into  the  thicket,  still 
intent  upon  the  capture.  In  the  .very  densest  part  of  the 
wood,  he  came  suddenly  upon  a  boy  seated  upon  the 
ground.  He  accosted  the  boy  and  asked  if  he  had  not 
seen  a  butterfly  flying  about  among  the  bushes. 

"No,  I  have  not  seen  it,"  answered  the  boy. 

Pusts-moot  started  again  upon  his  search  for  the 
butterfly,  but  the  boy  called  out  after  him,  ' '  Pusts-moot, 
come  here,  I  have  something  to  say  to  you/' 

"Wait  until  I  find  the  butterfly,"  answered  Pusts- 
moot. 

Again  the  boy  called  to  him,  "Pusts-moot,  I  am  the 
butterfly.  I  am  a  No-wish,  I  am  the  Sap-no-wish."  (An 
elf  or  browny.) 

Upon  hearing  this,  Pusts-moot  returned  to  where 
the  boy  was  seated,  and  the  boy  continued:  "I  was  sent 
by  the  Ho-chin  of  the  Ka-tsi-na.  I  took  the  form  of  a 
butterfly  in  order  to  entice  you  to  this  spot.  The  Ho- 


180  SCHAT-CHEN 

chin  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  sent  me  to  bring  you  to  the  land  of 
We-ni-mot" 

"Is  it  far?"  inquired  Pusts-moot. 

"Not  very  far,"  answered  the  No-wish. 

1 '  Then  I  will  accompany  you, ' '  said  Pusts-moot. 

"No,"  said  the  No-wish,  "I  will  put  you  in  this 
arrow  and  we  shall  travel  very  rapidly." 

The  No-wish  produced  a  bow  and  a  hollow  arrow, 
and,  putting  the  arrow  to  his  mouth,  he  drew  a  breath 
upon  it. 

Pusts-moot  felt  himself  grow  thinner  and  thinner, 
until  he  became  so  attenuated  that  he  slipped  into  the 
arrow  easily,  drawn  by  the  breath  of  the  No-wish. 

The  No-wish  placed  the  arrow  upon  the  bow  and 
shot  it  toward  the  west,  toward  the  land  of  the  We-ni- 
mot,  or  the  Ka-tsi-na  Kut-ret.  Then,  throwing  the  bow 
aside  and  transforming  himself  into  a  fly,  he  followed 
the  flight  of  the  arrow.  On  and  on  they  flew  over  mesas 
and  mountains  until,  at  length,  the  arrow  began  to  curve 
downward  and  finally  stuck  in  the  ground  close  to  the 
door  of  Ka-tsi-na  Kut-ret.  The  No-wish  changed  him 
self  from  the  form  of  a  fly  to  the  form  of  a  boy,  and  at 
once  released  Pusts-moot  from  his  imprisonment-  in  the 
arrow.  Then  they  approached  the  entrance  to  the  Ka- 
tsi-na  Kut-ret.  The  entrance  was  a  big  hole  in  the  ground 
covered  by  the  Skutch,  a  big  toad. 

When  the  toad  saw  Pusts-moot  and  the  Sap  No-wish 
approaching,  he  settled  himself  firmly  over  the  hole  and 
closed  his  eyes,  feigning  sleep. 

"Toad,  move  over  toward  the  north,"  commanded 
the  No-wish. 

The  toad  slowly  blinked  his  big  eyes  and  answered 
sleepily,  "If  I  move  to  the  north,  it  will  be  good  for  the 
north. 


PUTS-MOOT  181 

The  No-wish  then  shouted,  * '  Toad,  move  over  toward 
the  west." 

"  If  I  move  to  the  west,  it  will  be  good  for  the  west, ' ' 
grumbled  the  toad. 

"Toad,  move  over  toward  the  south,"  was  the  next 
command. 

"If  I  move  to  the  south,  it  will  be  good  for  the 
south, ' '  said  the  toad ;  and  he  did  not  budge. 

"Toad,  move  over  toward  the  east,"  said  the  No- 
wish. 

Thereupon  the  toad  moved  toward  the  east  and  al 
lowed  Pusts-moot  and  the  No-wish  to  enter  the  Ka-tsi-na 
Kut-ret. 

They  found  themselves  in  a  deep  and  gloomy  cavern 
that  led  away  under  the  earth.  They  followed  this,  and 
soon  came  to  a  beautiful  country.  Before  them  lay  a 
broad  and  mirror  like  lake  that  gave  forth  light  like  the 
light  of  the  sun.  At  the  edge  of  the  lake  they  encountered 
four  old  Spider  Women  who  directed  them  to  follow.  The 
Spider  Women  walked  to  the  water's  edge,  and  stooping 
down,  parted  the  water  with  their  hands. 

Pusts-moot  and  the  No-wish  drew  near,  and  there 
before  them  lay  a  broad  dry  road  crossing  the  lake,  with 
the  water  piled  up  on  either  side.  By  this  road  they  pur 
sued  their  journey.  By-and-by  they  came  out  of  the  lake 
and  entered  a  country  where  the  tall  corn  waved  and  the 
pumpkins  grew  luxuriantly.  There  were  broad  meadows 
and  thick  woods  where  roamed  herds  of  deer  and  ante 
lope. 

Upon  the  margin  of  the  lake  Pusts-moot  and  his 
guide  were  met  by  the  Ho-chin  of  the  Ka-tsi-na.  He 
welcomed  Pusts-moot  in  the  name  of  the  Ka-tsi-na  people, 
complimented  him  upon  his  prowess  as  a  hunter  and  di 
rected  him  to  convey  this  message  to  his  mother;  that 
he  thanked  her  in  the  name  of  his  people,  because  she 


182  SCHAT-CHEN 

always  remembered  them,  because  she  always  threw  the 
fragrant  soup  from  the  deer  and  antelope  toward  the 
west,  because  she  threw  the  crumbs  and  wafted  the  steam 
from  the  boiling  pots  toward  the  west  that  the  Ka-tsi-na 
might  enjoy  them.  Then  the  Ho-chin  continued,  telling 
Pusts-moot  that  he  had  sent  for  him  in  order  that  he 
might  reward  him  and  his  mother  and  make  them  a 
present. 

At  the  order  of  their  chief,  the  Ka-tsi-na  brought 
loads  of  green  corn  and  pumpkins  and  piled  them  in  a 
heap,  so  large  a  pile  that  a  hundred  men  could  not  have 
carried  it  away.  Then  the  Ho-chin  told  Pusts-moot  that 
this  offering  of  corn  and  pumpkins  was  his  and  that  he 
must  take  it  home  with  him.  He.  then  went  on  to  say  that 
the  Ka-tsi-na  people  would,  in  four  days,  pay  a  visit  to 
Acoma,  that  they  would  arrive  there  in  the  evening,  that 
they  would  dance  during  the  night  and  would  return  to 
the  Ka-tsi-na  Kut-ret  in  the  morning.  He  said  they  would 
come  in  the  storm  with  iShi-wu-na,  the  deity  of  the  ele 
ments. 

Pusts-moot,  responding,  thanked  the  Ho-chin  and  the 
Ka-tsi-na  for  their  kindness  and  their  presents ;  but  de 
clared  that  of  the  latter  he  could  only  accept  a  small  por 
tion,  as  he  had  far  to  go  and  was  unable  to  carry  so 

"You  can  easily  take  it  all,"  said  the  Ho-chin.  He 
then  called  in  the  four  old  Spider  Women  who  had  opened 
the  road  through  the  lake  for  Pusts-moot  and  the  No- 
wish. 

The  old  women  took  a  very  small  bag  and  began  to 
fill  it.  The  heap  of  corn  and  pumpkins  seemed  to  shrink 
to  a  mere  handful  which  they  easily  put  into  the  little 
bag.  Pusts-moot  strapped  vthe  bag  to  his  waist,  but 
hardly  felt  the  weight  of  it. 

"When  you  reach  your  home,"  instructed  the  Ho- 


PUTS-MOOT  183 

chin, ' '  empty  the  bag  upon  the  floor,  and  the  contents  will 
resume  their  original  bulk," 

Pusts-moot  took  leave  of  the  Ho-chin  and  his  people, 
and,  guided  by  the  Old  Spider  Women  and  the  No- wish, 
recrossed  the  water  and  reached  the  door  of  the  cavern. 
After  some  parley  with  the  toad,  Pusts-moot  and  the  No- 
wish  again  reached  the  outside  of  the  cavern. 

As  he  had  done  before,  the  No-wish  drew  Pusts-moot 
into  the  arrow  and  shot  him  toward  his  home;  then, 
changing  himself  again  to  a  fly,  he  followed  the  arrow. 
Pusts-moot  came  to  earth  at  the  very  spot  from'  whence 
he  had  started  on  his  flight  to  the  land  of  We-ni-mot.  The 
No-wish  again  quickly  changed  himself  to  the  form  of  a 
boy.  He  drew  the  arrow  from  the  ground  and,  blowing 
upon  it,  expelled  Pusts-moot  from  it.  Then  he  bade  fare 
well  and  vanished. 

During  the  absence  of  Pusts-moot  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 
and  his  mother  were  growing  hourly  more  and  more 
anxious,  wondering  what  had  befallen  him  to  keep  him 
from  them  for  so  long  a  time.  Suddenly  they  heard  his 
greeting  from  above,  for  the  outside  doors  to  the  houses, 
in  those  days,  were  in  the  roof  instead  of  on  the  side.  He 
was  soon  with  them,  telling  them  of  his  wonderful 
journey  to  the  Ka-tsi-na  Kut-ret  in  the  land  of  the  We-ni- 
mot.  He  united  the  little  bag  and  turned  it  bottom  up 
ward  and  the  corn  and  pumpkins  fell  out  in  a  great  heap 
that  filled  the  room.  His  wife  and  mother  were  greatly 
surprised  to  see  such  things  as  green  corn  and  pumpkins 
newly  broken  from  the  vines  in  winter. 

Four  days  later,  in  the  evening,  the  black  storm 
clouds  began  to  roll  up  from  the  west.  In  the  clouds  came 
the  Ka-tsi-na.  They  brought  with  them  great  loads  of 
corn  which  they  gave  to  the  people  of  Acoma.  Then  all 
night  long  they  danced  their  wierd  and  beautiful  masked 
dances.  Before  the  morning  dawned  they  disappeared 
and  went  back  to  their  home  in  the  land  of  We-ni-mots. 


IS-TO-A-MOOT  AND  THE  BUFFALO  MAN. 


Is-to-a-moot,  the  arrow  boy,  was  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  characters  in  Qe-res  history.  Beside  being  a 
successful  and  daring  hunter,  he  was  a  great  traveler  and 
the  hero  of  many  wonderful  adventures.  It  is  not  sur 
prising  then  that  he  won  the  hand  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  ' 
against  a  field  of  many  rivals. 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  the  most  beautiful  maiden  in 
all  A-co-ma;  but,  unfortunately  for  Is-to-a-moot  and  her 
self,  she  was  vain  and  fickle. 

Shortly  after  the  marriage,  during  Is-to-a-moot 's  ab 
sence  on  a  hunt,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  went  early  one  morning 
to  the  spring  for  water.  While  she  was  filing  her  jar 
with  water,  she  was  approached  by  Mu-shaitch  Hutch-tsi, 
the  Buffalo  Man.  She  did  not  seek  to  avoid  him,  for,  to 
speak  the  truth,  she  rather  admired  his  appearance ;  and 
when  he  spoke  to  her,  she  answered  boldly.  He  proposed 
to  ber  that  she  accompany  him  to  his  home.  'iShe  readily 
consented,  and  directed  by  the  Buffalo  Man,  she  climbed 
upon  his  back.  Then  he  started  swiftly  away  in  the  direc 
tion  of  his  own  country  in  the  northeast. 

When  Is-to-a-moot  returned  from  the  hunt,  he  search 
ed  long  and  vainly  for  his  wife.  He  inquired  among  the 
people,  but  none  of  them  could  give  him  news  of  her. 
Then  he  became  sad  and  moody  and  lost  all  interest  in  his 
work  and  in  the  hunting.  He  went  no  more  among  the 
people,  but  sat  all  day  long  in  his  house,  mournful  and 
sad. 

Among  the  many  trophies  of  the  chase  that  Is-to-a- 
moot  possessed  was  an  eagle  that  he  had  caught  and 
tamed.  While  Is-to-a-moot.  was  sitting  in  his  house 
mourning,  the  eagle  had  been  fasting,  for  no  one  came  to 


IS-TO-A-MOOT    AND    THE   BUFFALO    MAN  185 

feed  it.  One  day  the  eagle  went  up  to  where  Is-to-a-moot 
was  sitting  and  said  to  him: 

"If  you  will  give  me  something  to  eat,  I  will  take 
you  to  your  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko. " 

This  speech  of  the  eagle  aroused  Is-to-a-moot 
from  the  inaction  into  which  he  had  fallen.  He  found 
some  food  and  fed  the  eagle.  The  eagle  then  spread  its 
wings  and  told  Is-to-a-moot  to  mount  upon  its  back.  This 
he  did  and  the  eagle  set  off,  flying  toward  the  north 
east.  They  traveled  in  this  manner  for  many  days,  un 
til  they  came  to  a  very  rough  and  mountainous  country. 
Here  the  eagle  stopped  and  directed  Is-to-a-moot  to 
alight. 

' i  I  have  brought  you  this  far, ' '  said  the  eagle,  i  i  and 
can  go  no  farther.  From  this  place  you  must  travel  on 
foot  to  the  country  of  the  Buffalo.'' 

Is-to-a-moot  took  leave  of  the  eagle  and  commenced 
his  long  march  alone.  He  found  himself  in  the  midst  of 
a  vast  wilderness  the  like  of  which  he  had  never  before 
seen.  He  looked  all  about  him,  but  saw  no  familiar  land 
marks,  so  he  determined  to  continue  toward  the  north 
east  in  the  -blind  hope  of  finding  the  Mushaitch  Hutch- 
tsi  and  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  He  had  not  gone  far  when  he 
succeeded  in  killing  a  deer  that  crossed  his  path.  While 
he  was  engaged  in  dressing  the  carcass,  an  old  Spider 
Woman  came  to  him  and  spoke  to  him: 

"My  grandson,  you  are  looking  for  your  wife,  Ko- 
chin-ni-na-ko.  Kemain  with  me  four  days  and  then  I  will 
help  you,  for  there  are  many  dangers  ahead  of  you." 

Is-to-a-moot  thanked  the  Spider  Woman  for  her 
proffered  aid  and  told  her  that  he  would.  So  he  carried 
the  meat  of  the  deer  to  the  house  of  the  Spider  Woman 
and  laid  it  upon  the  floor.  The  old  woman  cut  the  meat 
Into  thin  strips  and  hung  it  up  to  dry,  in  order  that  Is- 
to-a-moot  might  carry  it  with  him  on  his  long  journey. 


186  SCHAT-CHEN 

The  next  day  and  the  next  Is-to-a-moot  hunted  to 
ward  the  east,  bringing  home  to  the  Spider  Woman  each 
night  the  game  he  had  killed.  In  the  meantime,  the 
Spider  Woman  had,  been  busy  preparing  some  magic 
powders  or  medcine. 

After  staying  four  days  at  the  house  of  the  old  wo 
man,  Is-to-a-moot  took  leave  of  her  and  proceeded  on  his 
journey.  At  parting  the  Spider  Woman  gave  him  the 
medicine  she  had  prepared,  instructing  him  that,  if  any 
thing  impeded  his  progress  or  threatened  to  delay  him,  he 
was  to  chew  some  of  the  medicine  and  blow  it  upon  the 
obstacle,  when  immediately  his  path  would  be  cleared. 

Day  after  day  Is-to-a-moot  journeyed.  Whenever 
he  came  to  a  deep  ravine  or  canon  that  was  difficult  to 
pass,  he  chewed  some  of  the  medicine  and,  blowing  it  into 
the  canon,  commanded  it  to  close  up  in  order  that  he 
might  pass.  When  he  approached  a  high  mountain  very 
difficult  to  climb,  he  chewed  some  of  the  medicine  and, 
blowing  it  on  the  mountain,  commanded  it  to  sink  down 
in  order  that  he  might  cross.  And  the  canon  would  close 
up  and  the  mountain  would  sink  down  until  he  was  safely 
over. 

By-and-by  he  came  to  a  country  inhabited  by  snakes. 
It  was  the  land  of  the  snakes.  Snakes  blocked  the  path 
and  Is-to-a-moot  was  obliged  to  pause.  However,  he 
bethought  him  of  his  magic  medicine.  He  chewed  some  of 
it  and  blew  it  upon  the  snakes.  Then  he  commanded, 
"Pish-ti-i,  Shru-wi-pish-ti-i. "  (Behave  snakes,  behave). 
The  snakes  were  overcome  by  sleep  and  Is-to-a-moot 
passed  safely  through  their  country. 

Soon  afterwards  he  arrived  at  the  borders  of  the 
country  of  the  mountain  lions.  There  were  lions  crouch 
ing  upon  all  sides,  ready  to  spring  upon  him.  Here  he 
chewed  some  of  the  medicine,  and  blowing  it  on  the  lions 
said,  "Pish-ti-i,  mo-kaitch,  pish-ti-i."  (Behave,  lions, 


IS-TO-A-MOOT    AND    THE    BUFFALO    MAN  187 

behave.)     Sleep    overcame   the   lions    and   Is-to-a-moot 
passed  through  their  country  safely. 

Then  he  came  to  the  country  of  the  bears.  Bears 
walked  about  and  growled  angrily  at  him.  He  chewed 
some  of  the  medicine  and,  blowing  it  on  the  bears,  said, 
'"Pish-ti-i,  quai-ya,  pish-ti-i."  ('Behave,  bears,  behave.) 
The  bears  immediately  went  to  sleep  and  Is-to-a-moot 
passed  safely  through  their  country. 

Then  he  came  to  the  country  of  the  wolves.  Wolves 
in  great  packs  sniffed  the  air  and  trotted  around  him.  He 
chewed  some  of  the  medicine,  and  blowing  it  upon  the 
wolves,  said,  "Pish-ti-i,  ku-kun,  pish-ti-i."  (Behave 
wolves,  behave.)  The  wolves  fell  asleep  at  once  and  Is- 
to-a-moot  passed  in  safely  through  their  country. 

At  last  Is-to-a-moot  came  to  the  place  where  the 
sky  comes  down  and  meets  the  earth.  At  first  he  was 
appalled  at  the  angry  appearance  of  the%sky.  He  ap 
proached  it  several  times,  but  each  time  drew  back  afraid. 
Finally,  his  courage  having  slowly  risen,  he  drew  near 
enough  to  blow  some  of  the  medicine  against  the  sky,  say 
ing  as  he  did  so,  "Pish-ti-i,  ho-wak,  pish-ti-i"  (Behave, 
sky,  behave.)  The  sky  at  once  became  tranquil  and  Is- 
to-a-moot  was  no  longer  afraid.  At  his  command,  the  sky 
slowly  rose  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  pass  under. 

Very  soon  he  discovered  the  Buffalo  Man  alseep. 
Is-to-a-moot  approached  him  cautiously.  He  saw  that 
the  Buffalo  Man  slept  with  his  head  pillowed  on  Ko-chin- 
ni-na-ko's  dress,  so  that  she  could  not  stir  without 
awakening  him.  When  Is-to-a-moot  had  drawn  near 
enough,  he  blew  upon  the  Buffalo  Man  some  of  the  magic 
medicine,  and  commanded  him  to  sleep  on.  Then  he  went 
to  looking  about  to  see  what  he  might  discover. 

He  soon  found  another  woman  who  the  Buffalo  Man 
had  carried  away  from  he-r  home  as  he  had  carried  away 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  He  helped  both  of  the  women  to  free 


188  SCHAT-CHEN 

themselves  from  the  Buffalo  Man.     Then,  accompanied 
by  them,  he  started  upon  his  return  journey. 

As  they  went  along,  it  seemed  to  Is-to-a-moot  that 
the  wind  moving  through  the  long  grass  was  whispering, 
" Hurry!  Hurry!  Hurry "    The  chirp  of  the  cricket  and 
the  rasp  of  the    grasshopper    said,   "Hurry!     Hurry 
Hurry !" 

They  hastened  their  steps.  They  reached  the  sky 
and,  by  the  aid  of  the  magic  medicine,  passed  under  it. 
They  passed  in  succession  the  countries  of  the  wolves,  the 
bears,  the  lions  and  the  snakes.  Over  mountains  and 
across  canons  they  hurried,  until  they  came  within  sight 
of  the  village  where  Is-to-a-moot  lived.  But,  as  they 
sighted  their  home,  they  also  beheld  a  cloud  of  dust  in 
the  distance,  and  they  knew  that  Mu-shaitch  Hutch-tsi 
and  his  people  were  pursuing  them.  Eealizing  that  they 
could  not  reach  the  village  before  they  would  be  over 
taken,  Is-to-a-moot  and  the  women  sought  safety  by 
climbing  into  a  cottonwood  tree.  They  had  no  sooner  con 
cealed  themselves  among  the  leaves  and  branches,  than 
the  herd  of  buffalo^ went  thundering  by.  All  but  one  of 
them  passed  the  tree.  That  one  was  a  calf  with  short 
hair  named  0-ko-to-wa-ni.  Happening  to  look  up  into  the 
tree,  he  spied  the  fugitives  and  immediately  gave  the 
alarm.  The  whole  herd  of  buffalo  turned  and  came  down 
on  the  tree  with  a  rush,  bellowing  and  tossing  the  dirt 
with  their  horns.  They  struck  the  tree  blow  upon  blow 
with  their  heads  and  caused  it  to  shake  and  tremble.  It 
was  a  very  small  tree,  and  Is-to-a-moot  knew  that  it  would 
not  long  be  able  to  withstand  the  fierce  attacks  of  the 
buffaloes.  So  he  blew  some  of  the  magic  medicine  upon 
the  tree  saying,  "Hi-tchi-i  si-ka-ka"  (cottonwood,  grow 
large.)  The  cottonwood  quickly  grew  to  such  a  size  that 
the  buffaloes  could  not  break  it  down  or  even  shake  it. 

Is-to-a-moot  then  unslung  his  bow  and  began  to  slay 


IS-TO-A-MOOT   AND    THE    BUFFALO    MAN  189 

the  buffaloes  that  continued  their  blind  assaults  upon  the 
tree.  Soon  they  were  lying  dead  upon  the  ground.  Then 
Is-to-a-moot  and  his  companions  descended  from  their  re 
fuge.  Is-to-a-moot  kindled  a  fire  and  cut  some  meat  from 
the  big  buffalo  that  had  carried  away  his  wife.  He  broiled 
the  meat  upon  the  fire  and  gave  to  the  women  to  eat. 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  refused  to  eat  the  meat  of  Mu-shaitch 
Hutch -tsi  but  the  other  woman  ate  because  she  was  very 
hungry. 

Thenjs-to-a-moot  waxed  very  angry.  "  You  will  not 
eat  the  meat/'  he  cried  to  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  "You  still 
love  the  buffalo  man.  Then  die  that  you  may  still  be 
with  him." 

With  that  he  drew  an  arrow  from  his  quiver  and  shot 
her  through  the  heart.  She  died  and  Is-to-a-moot 
married  the  other  woman  whom  he  had  rescued  from  the 
buffalo  man. 


I-STO-A-MOOT  AND  HIS  SISTEE. 


Many  years  ago  there  lived  in  Acoma  two  young 
people,  brother  and  sister.  Their  father  and  mother  were 
dead,  and  the  support  of  the  household  rested  upon  the 
brother,  I-sto-a-moot.  The  sister  had  many  suitors  for 
her  hand,  but  she  found  no  one  among  them  that  pleased 
her.  One  of  these  suitors  was  a  Chi-an-ni,  a  medicine 
man.  Although  he  was  very  devoted,  the  maiden  heartily 
disliked  him  and  avoided  his  presence  whenever  she  was 
able. 

One  day  while  the  brother  was  absent  from  home, 
having  gone  on  a  hunt,  his  sister  fell  ill.  The  medicine 
man  was  called  to  see  her.  While  alone  with  her,  he  took 
an  eagle  feather  and,  thrusting  the  quill  into  her  breast, 
he  bit  it  off  close  so  that  it  could  not  be  seen. 

When  I-sto-a-moot  came  home,  he  found  his  sister 
apparently  dead.  He  was  overcome  with  grief  at  his  loss 
and  would  sit  alone  for  hours  mourning. 

Now  this  young  man  had  a  friend,  a  big  star,  with 
which  he  often  communicated.  As  he  sat  by  the  side  of 
his  dead  sister,  alone  in  his  grief,  the  star  came  and 
shone  in  at  the  door  and  asked  him  what  the  trouble 
was. 

After  he  had  related  the  cause  of  his  mourning,  the 
star  said  to  him : 

"Be  braVe.  Do  as  I  direct,  and  all  will  yet  be  well 
with  you  and  your  sister.  You  must  bury  her  body  be 
fore  the  door  of  your  house,  and  each  night  you  must 
watch  over  her  grave.  (Something  strange  and  awful  will 
happen,  but  you  must  do  nothing  until  I  appear  to  you 
again. 

So  I-sto-a-moot  buried  his  sister  before  the  door 
way  and  kept  nightly  watch  over  the  grave.  On  the 
fourth  night  as  he  sat  before  the  door,  he  saw  two  big 
gaunt  wolves  approaching,  dragging  between  them  a  log 


I-STO-A-MOOT    AND    HIS    SISTEK  191 

of  wood.  When  the  wolves  reached  the  grave  they  laid 
the  log  of  wood  down  and  began  to  dig.  Soon  they  un 
earthed  the  body  of  the  young  girl,  and  after  dragging  it 
out,  deposited  the  log  in  its  place  and  then  carefully  re 
filled  the  grave. 

As  the  wolves  started  away  with  the  body,  the  star 
appeared  to  I-sto-a-moot  and  told  him  to  follow  them. 
So  he  followed  the  wolves  toward  the  southwest,  the  star 
accompanying  him. 

The  wolves  carried  their  burden  to  an  open  cave  in 
the  rocks.  When  I-sto-a-moot  and  his  companion  reached 
the  place,  they  halted.  The  star  gave  the  young  man  four 
flint  darts  and  directed  him  to  enter  the  cave.  He  went 
in.  The  cave  was  crowded  with  Ku-ni-te-ya.  The  body 
of  I-sto-a-moot 's  sister  law  within  the  circle.  The  Shai- 
an-ni  who  had  caused  her  death  knelt  beside  the  body, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  one  of  the  Hun-ni-te-ya,  he 
extracted  the  quill  from  her  breast.  Immediately  the  girl 
recovered  consciousness  and  began  to  call  for  her  brother. 
I-sto-a-moot  called  to  her  in  answer  and  stepped  between 
her  and  the  Kun-ni-te-ya.  These  quickly  formed  them 
selves  in  four  lines  to  attack  and  overpower  him.  At  the 
command  of  the  medicine  man,  the  first  line  rushed  for 
ward.  I-sto-a-moot  poised  one  of  his  darts  and  cast  it. 
It  passed  along  the  entire  line  of  the  Kum-ni-te-ya,  kill 
ing  or  severely  wounding  every  one  of  them.  The  next 
line  made  its  attack  with  like  result.  Then  the  third 
line,  and  finally  the  last,  came  on;  but  I-sto-a-moot 's 
darts  seemed  winged  with  death,  for  he  killed  or  wounded 
all  except  a  very  few  who  escaped  by  changing  them 
selves  into  animals. 

When  the  enemy  had  been  thus  summarily  defeated, 
I-sto-a-moot  took  his  sister  home  with  him  to  Acoma. 
Though  she  soon  recovered  her  wonted  bodily  health 
and  her  beauty,  she  was  ever  afterwards  blind  during 
the  daytime,  but  could  see  at  night. 


THE  TURTLE,  THE  DEEE  AND  THE  SHE  WOLF. 


Once  there  lived  near  each  other  a  doe  and  a  she 
wolf.  Each  had  two  children;  those  of  the  wolf  being 
little  snarling,  savage  cubs,  while  those  of  the  doe  were 
pretty  and  playful  little  spotted  fawns. 

The  doe  and  the  wolf  were  close  friends  and  often 
went  on  excursions  over  the  hills  and  through  the  forests. 
One  day  the  cubs  of  the  wolf  said  to  their  mother : 

"Wa-wa  wa,"  which  meant  that  they  wanted  some 
thing. 

"Wait  awhile,"  said  the  mother  wolf. 

The  wolf  then  went  to  the  doe  and  said  to  her,  i  i  Let 
us  go  and  gather  I-mast-chu  (cactus),  for  our  dinner. 

They  went  together  to  a  place  where  the  cactus  grew 
plentifully  and  while  the  doe  was  gathering  the  plants, 
the  wolf  sprang  upon  her  and  killed  her.  Then,  cutting 
the  carcass  in  two,  took  half  of  it  home  to  her  cubs. 
After  giving  meat  of  the  doe  to  her  children,  the  wolf 
gave  some  also  to  the  fawns.  While  the  cubs  of  the  wolf 
ate  the  meat  paw,  the  fawns  put  their  meat  on  the  fire  to 
cook.  As  they  sat  by  the  fire  they  heard  the  meat  among 
the  coals  say: 

1 '  Ur  ur  stch  stch !  Do  not  eat  me,  my  children.  I  am 
your  mother.  The  cruel  wolf  killed  me  while  we  were 
gathering  i-mast-chu  together.  But  you  will  find  my 
spirit  in  the  deer's  house  in  the  land  of  the  We-ni-mot. 
Go  to  the  turtle  man  and  he  will  take  you  across  the  big 
water. ' ' 

The  fawns,  though  sad  and  sorrowful  at  the  death 
of  their  mother,  said  nothing.  The  next  day,  however, 
when  the  old  wolf  was  away,  having  gone  to  bring  the 
other  half  of  the  carcass,  the  fawns  went  to  visit  the 
cubs.  Soon  the  cubs  said  to  them: 


THE   TURTLE,   THE   DEER  AND   THE   SHE   WOLF  193 

"Oh,  what  spotted  skins  you  have!  What  made 
them  so?'" 

"Our  mother  smoked  us  with  corn  cobs,"  replied 
the  fawns.  "Would  you  like  to  have  spotted  skins  like 
ours?" 

The  cubs  thinking  to  amend  their  ugliness,  thought 
that  they  would. 

So  the  fawns  built  a  big  fire  of  corn  cobs  in  the  den 
and  going  out,  closed  the  door  upon  the  cubs.  As  the 
smoke  thickened  the  cubs  howled  and  coughed  and 
sneezed,  and  implored  the -fawns  to  let  them  out.  But 
the  fawns  refused  to  open  the  door,  and  soon  the  cubs 
were  smothered  by  the  smoke.  The  fawns  then  opened 
the  door  and  went  in  to  find  the  cubs  quite  dead.  Then 
they  put  a  bow  in  the  hand  of  the  boy  cub  with  the  arrow 
drawn  and  pointing  at  his  sister  whom  they  placed  with 
a  basket  balanced  upon  her  head,  a  little  in  front  of  her 
brother. 

Having  placed  everything  to  their  satisfaction,  they 
left  the  wolf's  den  and  set  out  for  the  deer's  house  in 
the  land  of  We-ni-mot.  When  they  reached  the  brink  of 
the  big  water,  the  old  turtle  man  was  there  and  soon 
carried  them  to  the  other  side.  The  fawns  told  the  turtle 
man  that  the  wolf  was  probably  pursuing  them  and  that 
he  must  delay  her  as  long  as  possible  in  order  that  they 
might  get  safely  into  the  deer's  house  before  she  could 
overtake  them. 

After  the  fawns  had  been  gone  for  some  time,  the 
she  wolf  came  along.  The  old  turtle  man  was  digging 
in  the  ground  and  was  singing,  in  a  deep  low  voice ;  "  Si- 
a-nii-ya  nu-ya." 

The  wolf  called  to  him,  saying  that  she  wished  to 
cross  the  big  water. 

Four  times  have  I  been  from  the  east  to  the  west, ' ' 


(,  i 


194  SCHAT-CHEN 

he  replied.  Then  he  counted  slowly ;  '  *  One,  two,  three, 
four." 

Again  the  wolf  called  to  him;  so  he  went  and  took 
her  on  his  back  and  slowly  crossed  the  big  water  with 
her.  But  when  he  reached  the  opposite  bank,  the  old 
turtle  man  would  not  allow  her  to  land,  until  he  had 
sung  his  song  again.  Then  he  put  her  ashore  and  she 
ran  away  in  the  direction  of  the  deer's  house. 

The  fawns  had  already  reached  their  destination  and 
were  safe  with  their  mother  in  the  deer's  house. 

When  the  wolf  reached  the  place,  she  called  down 
from  above:  "Are  the  fawns  there?"  "Yes  they  are 
here,"  was  the  answer.  "Send  them  up  to  me,"  said 
the  wolf.  ' '  Come  and  get  them, ' '  was  the  reply. ' ' 

So  down  leaped  the  wolf  into  the  deer's  house.  But 
a  big  buck  was  ready  to  receive  her  on  his -horns  and  when 
he  threw  her  off,  another  caught  her,  and  so  they  tossed 
her  until  she  died. 


YO-A-SCEI-MOOT  AND  THE  KUN-NI-TE-YA 


A  .popular  superstition  among  the  Queres  Indians  is 
the  fanciful  and  fantastical  order  known  as  the  Kun-ni- 
te-ya  or  ghost  people.  Though  this  order  is  purely  im 
aginary  there  are  many  superstitious  ones  among  the 
people  who  believe  not  only  that  the  order  has  existence, 
but  also  that  the  members  of  it  are  witches  who  possess 
the  power  of  changing  their  forms  to  those  of  animals. 
For  this  reason  they  are  called  two  headed.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  majority  of  the  people  have  no  belief  in  witch 
craft  nor  in  the  existence  of  the  Qun-ni-te-ya,  and  scoff 
at  the  idea  that  any  one  has  the  power  to  change  himself 
into  an  animal. 

Among  the  practical  ones  who  held  to  this  latter  faith 
was  Yo-a-schi-moot,  and  among  the  firm  believers  in  all 
the  magic  and  the  miracles  of  the  times  was  Yo-a-schi- 
moot 's  beautiful  wife.  So  insistent  was  she  in  her 
support  of  this  belief,  that  Yo-a-schi-moot  finally  began 
to  think  that  perhaps  she  knew  more  of  witchcraft  than 
he  had  before  suspected.  So  he  determined  to  watch  her 
movements  to  see  if  she  held  any  communion  with  witches 
or  demons. 

One  night,  as  Yo-a-schi-moot  was  lying  awake,  a 
big  black  cat  came  to  the  window  of  the  room.  He  heard 
the  cat  say  in  a  low  whisper : 

"Why  do  you  not  come?  They  are  all  there  and 
waiting. ' ' 

"Be  quiet, "  answered  the  wife.  "  Yo-a-chi-moot  is 
not  yet  asleep. ' ' 

When  he  heard  this,  Yo-a-schi-moot  feigned  sleep. 
When  his  wife  heard  his  deep,  regular  breathing,  she 
cautiously  arose  and  glided  out  of  the  room.  Presently 
she  returned,  bringing  a  bowl  of  cooked  meat  and  an  ear 


196 


SCHAT-CHEN 


of  smutty  corn.  She  placed  the  ear  of  corn  beside  the  bed 
where  Yo-a-schi-moot  was  lying,  then,  taking  the  bowl  of 
meat  with  her,  she  stole  silently  out  of  the  house. 

She  had  scarcely  disappeared  when  Yo-a-schi-moot 
rolled  over  in  bed,  intending  to  follow  her.  As*  he  did 
so,  he  heard  a  voice,  which  seemed  to  be  that  of  his  wife, 
saying : 

"Are  you  awake." 

He  did  not  answer,  but  got  up  from  his  bed  and  stood 
upon  the  floor.  Then  the  voice  asked : 

' '  Where  are  you  going  ? ' ' 

He  did  not  answer,  but  began  to  grope  about  him, 
thinking  that  perhaps  his  wife  was  still  there  and  that 
he  had  dreamed  that  she  had  gone  away.  Suddenly  his 
hand  encountered  the  ear  of  corn. 

"Ya-ka  pu-shu-na.  This  is  what  has  been  fooling 
me,"  he  cried;  and,  taking  a  firm  hold  upon  the  ear  of 
corn,  he  threw  it  violently  against  the  wall.  Then  he 
went  swiftly  and  silently  out  of  the  house,  following  his 
wife  whom  he  soon  described  going  on  before  him  toward 
the  west.  Yo-a-schi-moot  followed  far  enough  behind 
so  that  lie  could  see  her  shadowy  form  without  being  seen 
by  her.  After  going  westward  for  a  considerable  dis 
tance,  she  turned  her  course  to  the  north  and  east.  Soon 
she  came  to  a  place  known  as  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  Kut-ret,  a 
big  open  cave  in  the  rocks.  She  lost  no  time  in  entering 
the  cave.  Yo-a-schi-moot  approached  as  near  as  he 
thought  prudent  and  concealed  himself  under  one  of  the 
numerous  blankets  that  were  lying  on  the  ground.  From 
his  station  he  was  able  to  see  that  the  cave  was  filled  with 
Kun-ni-te-ya,  some  of  them  being  people  whom  he  knew 
intimately  and  met  with  every  day  in  the  village.  He 
heard  the  Ho-tchin  of  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  ask: 

"Why  are' you  not  on  time?" 


YO-A-SCHI-MOOT  AND  THE  KUN-NI-TE-YA  197 

i '  My  husband  would  not  go  to  sleep, ' '  answered  Yo- 
a-chi-moot's  wife,  "and  I  could  not  get  away." 

"So  much  for  marrying  outside  the  order,  against 
my  counsel,"  responded  the  Ho-chin.  "We  will  now 
proceed  with  our  ceremonies.  I  will  cause  the  rainbow  to 
appear."  In  lieu  of  the  rainbow  a  large  hoop  is  started 
rolling  and  members  wishing  to  change  their  shape  must 
jump  through  the  revolving  ring  at  the  same  time  mak 
ing  a  wish.  "You  will  each  and  all  walk  under  it  and, 
by  merely  willing  it,  assume  whatever  shape  of  animal 
you  may  choose." 

The  rainbow  appeared  at  hjs  command,  and,  one  by 
one,  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  passed  under  it.  The  transforma 
tion  hoped  for  did  not  take  place.  Those  who  expected 
to  assume  the  forms  of  animals  still  remained  men  and 
women.  They  all  marveled  greatly  at  the  failure  of  the 
magic  that  had  ever  before  been  so  potent. 

' l  Hold, ' '  cried  the  Ho-chin.  i '  There  is  a  spy,  an  un 
believer  in  our  midst.  We  must  find  him.  Search  the 
cave". 

The  Kun-ni-te-ya  departed  to  do  his  bidding,  but 
soon  returned  and  reported  that  they  had  found  nothing. 

"Have  you  searched  thoroughly!"  asked  the  Ho- 
chin.  "Yes,"  they  answered. 

' '  Have  you  looked  under  all  of  the  blankets  1 "  "  All 
but  the  Ho-chin  7s,"  was  the  reply. 

"Look  under  that  also." 

Thereupon  one  of  their  number  lifted  the  blanket 
and  discovered  Yo-a-schi-moot. 

' '  Ha ! ' '  exclaimed  the  Ho-chin.  i  i  This  man  has  come 
to  join  our  order.  He  must  dine  with  us,  for  that  is  the 
first  step  in  the  initiation." 

Fearful  of  the  punishment  that  might  follow  upon 
refusal,  Yo-a-schi-moot  went  in  and  dined  with  the  Kun- 
ni-te-ya,  eating  out  of  the  same  bowl. 


198  SCHAT-CHEN 

"Now,"  said  the  Ho-chin,  "you  have  taken  the  first 
step  in  our  initiation.  For  the  time  you  are  a  Kun-ni- 
te-ya  like  the  rest  of  us  and  you  may  pass  under  the  rain- 
boy  arch.  Hereafter  other  ordeals,  more  trying  than  that 
of  eating,  will  be  required  of  you." 

Again  the  rainbow  was  formed  and,  as  each  of  the 
Kun-ni-te-ya  passed  under  it,  they  took  the  shape  of  the 
animals  they  willed.  When  it  came  Yo-a-schi-moot 's 
turn,  he  chose  to  change  himself  into  a  cat. 

After  the  ceremony  was  over,  the  Ho-chin  addressed 
him,  telling  him  that  before  he  could  be  received  into  full 
membership,  in  the  orde^r,  he  must  go  and  bring  into  the 
assembly  of  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  the  heart  of  the  sister  he 
loved  best. 

So  the  cat  that,  had  once  been  Yo-a-schi-moot 
emerged  from  the  cave  on  this  cruel  and  sanguinary 
errand.  He  went  straightway  to  his  father's  house  where 
all  four  of  his  sisters  lay  asleep.  For  a  long  time  he 
looked  upon  them,  trying  to  decide  which  one  of  them  he 
loved  best.  He  thought  of  each  one  in  turn  as  a  sacrifice 
to  the  Kun-ni-te-ya,  but  each  time  came  to  the  same  decis 
ion.  He  loved  them  all  and  all  equally.  Finally,  when  he 
was  almost  despairing,  he  bethought  him  of  a  way  out  of 
his  dilemma.  He  had  a  big  rooster  with  which  he  had 
often  talked,  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  loved  the 
rooster  better  than  any  one  else  in  the  world. 

"I  have  it,"  he  said  to  himself.  "I  will  kill  the 
rooster  and  take  his  heart  to  the  Ho-chin  of  the  Kun-ni- 
te-ya, 

Accordingly  he  proceeded  to  the  enclosure  where  he 
kept  the  rooster.  The  fowl  was  easily  captured  and 
quickly  despatched.  Taking  the  heart,  still  bleeding,  Yo- 
a-schi-moot  returned  to  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  Kut-ret.  When 
the  Kun-ni-te-ya  had  again  assembled,  Yo-a-schi-moot 
found  that  there  were  several  candidates  for  admission 


YO-A-SCHI-MOOT  AND  THE  KUN-NI-TE-YA  199 

to  the  order.  The  others  had  brought  the  heart  of  a 
real  human,  as  they  had  been  instructed  to  do. 

The  Ho-chin  received  the  hearts  from  the  candidates 
and  placed  them  in  a  semi-circle  on  the  ground  before 
him.  He  then  produced  a  long  cactus  thorn  and  thrust 
it  into  the  first  heart  along  the  line.  The  heart  cried  out 
in  tones  of  a  person  in  great  agony,  "Ai-nai-a,"  (Oh! 
mother!)  The  Ho-chin  proceeded  along  the  line, 
thrusting  the  thorn  into  each  heart  in  succession.  As  it 
felt  the  prick  of  the  thorn,  each  heart  cried  out,  as  the 
first  one  had  done,  "Ai-nai-a."  When  the  Ho-chin  came 
to  the  heart  brought  by  Yo-a-schi-moot,  he  plunged  the 
thorn  into  it.  Instead  of  the  customary  and  expected 
cry,  the  heart  gave  forth  a  loud  and  prolonged  '  *  Oo-oo-o- 
oo-ooo-a." 

' '  Treason  and  treactfery, ' '  cried  the  Ho-chin.  i  i  Seize 
the  traitor." 

11  Yo-a-schi-moot, "  he  stormed,  when  the  culprit  was 
brought  before  him,  "you  must  explain  to  us  why  you 
have  attempted  to  palm  off  on  us  a  rooster's  heart  in 
stead  of  one  of  your  sister's." 

Yo-a-schi-moot,  frightened  at  the  threatening  mien 
of  the  Ho-chin  and  his  followers,  could  only  plead  that  he 
had  no  favorite  sister,  and  that  he  loved  the  rooster  with 
a  love  passing  his  love  for  women. 

But  no  such  defense  availed  in  the  councils  of  the 
Ku,n-ni-te-ya.  Yo-a-schi-moot  |had  willfully  disobeyed 
the  order  of  the  Ho-chin  and  had  failed  to  pass  the  second 
ordeal  of  the  initiation.  The  penalty  for  such  failure  and 
disobedience  was  death;  and  the  sentence  was  passed 
upon  him  by  the  Ho-chin. 

Yo-a-schi-moot  was  not  advised  of  the  fate  in  store 
for  him.  All  unsuspecting,  but  still  fearful,  he  was  led 
again  under  the  rainbow  arch  with  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  and 
assumed  his  natural  form.  After  the  assembly  had  been 


200  SCHAT-CHEN 

dismissed,  tlie  Ho-chin  drew  Yo-a-schi-moot 's  wife  aside 
and  instructed  her  that  she  had  been  appointed  to  carry 
into 'effect  the  sentence  of  death  that  had  been  pronoun 
ced  upon  her  husband.  The  method  of  execution  was 
what  was  known  as  Tit-kash. 

Yo-a-schi-moot  returned  home  in  fear  and  trembling, 
expecting  momentarily  to  meet  with  some  condign 
punishment.  For  several  days  he  did  not  go  abroad  but 
stayed  in  his  house,  guarding  against  any  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  to  do  him  harm.  However,  this 
constant  watchfulness  discovered  nothing,  and  he  soon 
argued  himself  into  a  feeling  of  a  security. 

One  night  he  went  to  sleep  in  his  bed.  In  the  morn 
ing  he  awoke  to  find  himself  lying  on  the  narrow  ledge  of 
rock.  He  rubbed  his  eyes  and  ,stared  about  him.  At  his 
back  was  a  cliff  that  went  up  to  such  a  height  and  presen 
ted  such  a  smooth  and  unbroken  surface  that  he  could 
not  hope  to  scale  it.  Before  him,  at  his  very  feet,  was 
the  edge  of  the  shelf.  He  looked  down,  and  the  sight 
made  him  sick  and  dizzy.  The  ground,  hundreds  of  feet 
below  him,  was  strewn  with  broken  rocks  among  which 
he  could  see  the  bones  of  the  people  who  had  been  sacri 
ficed  and  had  fallen  from  the  ledge. 

Yo-a-schi-moot  first  attempted  to  climb  the  precipice 
at  his  back,  but  could  not  find  so  much  as  a  finger  hold. 
He  meditated  trying  to  descend,  but  the  sight  of  the 
bones  below  drove  him  back.  In  despair,  he  sat  down, 
for  the  ledge  was  so  narrow  that  he  was  in  constant 
danger  of  falling  off.  The  full  meaning  of  his  situation 
now  dawned  upon  him.  He  hungered  and  starvation 
stared  him  in  the  eyes.  He  thirsted,  and  no  drop  of 
water  offered  to  cool  his  lips.  If  he  slept,  he  risked  fall 
ing  from  the  shelf  in  his  sleep.  Three  days  went  by. 
Yo-a-schi-moot  was  dying  from  hunger  and  thirst.  His 
body  was  racked  with  horrible  pain.  His  mind  wandered. 


YO-A-SCHI-MOOT  AND  THE  KUN-NI-TE-YA  201 

All  his  bravery  and  courage  deserted  him  and  he  began 
to  cry. 

Near  the  spot  where  Yo-a-schi-moot  lay  was  a  nest 
of  ground  squirrels,  Ke-osh,  where  lived  a  mother  squir 
rel  and  her  two  little  ones.  One  day,  while  the  mother 
was  busy  making  an  earthen  pot,  the  two  little  squirrels 
slipped  out  of  the  nest  and  ran  playing  among  the  rocks. 
Soon  they  returned  to  their  mother  in  a  great  fright. 
They  ran  against  the  newly  constructed  pot  and  broke 
it  into  bits.  The  enraged  mother  scolded  them  roundly 
and  then  asked  them  why  they  were  so  frightened. 

i  t  There  is  a  dead  man  out  there  among  the  rocks,  and 
he  is  crying,"  they  breathlessly  answered. 

"Where?"  asked  their  mother.  "Come  and  show 
me." 

Taking  their  mother  by  the  hand,  the  little  squirrels 
led  her  to  the  spot  where  Yo-a-schi-moot  lay.  The  mother 
squirrel  approached  and  spoke  to  him  telling  him  to  lie 
still  and  asking  him  what  the  matter  was. 

"I  am  dying  of  hunger  and  thirst,"  said  Yo-a-schi- 
moot  weakly. 

"I  will  bring  you  food  and  water,"  said  the  squir 
rel.  So  she  ran  away  and  soon  returned  with  two  cups 
of  the  acorn,  one  filled  with  water  and  the  other  with 
pollen  from  the  blossom  of  the  prickly  pear. 

"That  is  only  a  drop,"  complained  Yo-a-schi-moot, 
as  she  gave  him  the  acorn  cup  of  water.  l '  It  will  do  me 
no  good." 

"Drink,"  commanded  the  squirrel. 

So  he  drank  and  drank,  and  still  the  acorn  cup  re 
mained  full  of  water.  Then  he  ate  and  ate  out  of  the 
other  cup  and  still  it  remained  full  of  pollen.  When  he 
had  finished  drinking  and  eating  and  his  thirst  and 
hunger  were  all  gone,  the  squirrel  said  to  him : 

' i  Tonight  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  will  come  to  see  if  you  are 


202  SCHAT-CHEN 

dead;  and,  if  you  are  not,  they  will  tempt  you  and 
frighten  you  until  you  fall  from  the  shelf.  You  must 
lie  very  still  and  pretend  that  you  are  dead.  Tomorrow 
I  will  come  again  and  will  help  you  to  get  away  from 
here." 

That  night,  as  Yo-a-schi-moot  lay  upon  the  rock, 
a  big  snake  crawled  down  from  the  face  of  the  precipice 
and  hung  over  him.  He  did  not  move  or  open  his  eyes, 
for  he  knew  that  is  was  a  Kun-ni-te-ya ;  and  the  snake 
finally  went  away.  Then  several  clowns  came  and  tied 
ears  of  corn  and  pots  of  water  to  the  ends  of  rope  and 
dangled  them  before  his  eyes.  Still  he  lay  as  dead,  and 
finally  the  clowns  went  away. 

The  next  morning  just  at  sunrise  the  squirrel  came 
to  him  again.  She  brought  with  her  two  seeds  from  the 
pine  cone.  These  she  planted  in  a  crack  in  the  shelf  close 
to  the  wall  of  the  precipice.  When  the  sun  was  up,  the 
seeds  put  forth  roots  and  tiny  green  sprouts  came  up  out 
of  the  crevice.  As  the  sun  rose  higher  the  shoots  grew. 
By  midday  they  were  large  saplings.  By  the  middle  of 
afternoon  they  had  become  strong  enough  to  bear  a 
man's  weight.  Then  the  squirrel  directed  Yo-a-schi-moot 
to  take  hold-  of  the  trees  and  climb  up.  Yo-a-schi-moot 
slowly  and  painfully  raised  himself  up  into  the  trees. 
Then  he  climbed  by  means  of  them  to  the  top  of  the 
precipice,  and  was  soon  out  of  danger.  The  squirrel 
had  followed  him  and  now  gave  a  number  of  pinon  nuts 
for  his  food  and  a  black  pigment.  She  told  him  to  await 
a  favorable  opportunity  and  then  to  smear  the  black 
pigment  upon  his  wife's  face. 

Yo-a-schi-moot  promised  to  do  as  he  was  told,  and, 
then,  bidding  farewell  to  the  ground  squirrel,  he  set  out 
for  his  home.  It  was  dark  when  he  reached  the  town. 
He  passed  through  the  streets  unrecognized,  for  he  was 
greatly  changed  by  the  hardships  he  had  undergone. 


YO-A-SCHI-MOOT  AND  THE  KUN-NI-TE-YA  203 

There  was  a  dance  in  progress  in  the  village  and  Yo-a- 
schi-moot  went  in  and  mingled  with  the  dancers.  There 
he  found  his  wife  who,  during  his  absence,  had  married 
another  man.  He  made  himself  known  to  her  and  asked 
her  to  go  with  him  to  their  house,  pretending  that  he 
had  something  to  tell  her.  They  had  no  sooner  en 
tered  the  house  than  he  seized  her  and  smeared  some  of 
the  black  pigment  on  her  face.  She  immediately  fell 
asleep.  Yo-a-schi-moot  then  placed  an  ear  of  corn  in  each 
of  her  hands  and  went  away  and  left  her.  In  the  morn 
ing  when  she  awoke,  she  began  to  scream  like  a  Shu-an- 
ta,  and  continued  to  scream  until  she  died. 


KO-CHIN-NI-NA-KO  AND  THE  KO-CI-MA. 


Once  there  lived  in  the  village  of  Acoma  a  very  beau 
tiful  young  girl  by  the  name  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko.  She 
had  a  lover,  a  handsome  young  man  who  lived  in  the  same 
village. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 's  home  dwelt 
a  Ko-qi-ma,  or  hemaphrodite,  a  singular  being,  who  de 
sired  to  gain  the  affections  of  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 's  lover. 
This  ko-qi-ma  was  a  witch '  and  possessed  the  power 
of  changing  any  one  who  came  into  her  power  to  the 
form  of  an  animal. 

One  day  the  ko-qi-ma  asked  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  to  ac 
company  her  to  the  spring  whither  she  was  going  to  get 
water  with  which  to  mix  her  bread.  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 
went  with  her  and  then  helped  her  to  make  the  bread. 
When  they  had  finished  their  labors,  the  ko-qi-ma  said  to 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko : 

"  Would  you  not  like  to  have  a  nice  fat  turkey  for 
your  breakfast  tomorrow  morning  ?" 

"Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  signified  that  she  would.  "But" 
said  she,  "How  are  we  going  to  get  a  turkey?" 

"0,  answered  the  ko-qi-ma,  "I  will  change  you  and 
myself  to  coyotes.  Then  we  will  go  over  to  the  neigh 
bors'  house  and  get  one." 

After  much  argument,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  finally 
agreed  to  a  coyote'  for  the  time,  in  order  that  she  might 
procure  the  promised  turkey. 

By  her  magic  arts,  the  Ko-qi-ma  caused  a  rainbow  to 
appear  in  the  sky.  Then  she  directed  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  to 
walk  under  the  rainbow,  and  when  beneath  the  arch,  to 
say,  "I  will  be  a  coyote." 

When  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had  done  as  the  sorceress 
directed,  she  immediately  changed  to  a  coyote.  The  Ko- 
qui-ma  then  walked  under  the  arch  and  repeated,  "I  will 


206  SCHAT    CHEN 

be  a  coyote/'  And  she  likewise  assumed  the  form  of  the 
animal. 

"Now,"  said  the  witch  coyote.  "We  will  go  to  the 
place  where  the  turkeys  are  kept." 

When  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  they  found 
that  the  walls  of  the  turkey  house  were  very  high  and 
that  the  only  means  of  entrance  was  through  a  small  hole 
in  the  roof. 

"Jump  down,  commanded  the  witch  coyote,  "get  a 
nice  fat  turkey  and  pass  it  up  to  me." 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  sprang  down  into  the  house,  and 
quickly  caught  a  fat  gobbler  and  passed  it  up  through 
the  hole  to  the  Ko-qi-ma.  When  the  Ko-qi-ma  had 
secured  her  turkey,  she  called  to  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko : 

"I  hope  you  will  enjoy  yourself  among  the  turkeys. 
I  am  going  home." 

Then  she  trotted  away,  leaving  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  a 
prisoner  in  the  turkey  house.  Several  times  she  at 
tempted  to  spring  out  through  the  hole  in  the  roof;  but, 
each  time  failing,  she  sat  down  and  rested.  Finally  she 
made  a  more  powerful  effort  and  succeeded  in  getting 
her  fore-paws  over  the  edge  of  the  hole.  Then  she  drew 
herself  up  through  the  hole  and  jumped  down  from  the 
top  of  the  house.  She  did  not  know  what  to  do,  for  she 
knew  that  if  she  went  home  in  the  guise  of  a  coyote  her 
people  would  not  know  her,  but  would  kill  her  or  drive 
her  away.  iSo  she  went  away  and  hid  herself  in  the  rocks. 
There  she  stayed  for  days  and  days,  living,  like  other 
coyotes,  on  scraps  of  rawhide  and  other  refuse  that  she 
was  able  to  find. 

One  day  the  young  man  who  had  been  her  lover  be 
fore  she  became  a  coyote  came  out  on  the  rocks  to  tan  a 
piece  of  rawhide.  He  saw  the  coyote,  and  was  greatly 
surprised  that  it  did  not  run  away.  He  approached  it, 
looking  at  it  closely.  Finally  when  he  was  within  a  short 


KO-CHIN-NI-NA-KO    AND    THE    KO-CI-MA  207 

distance,  he  said :  "I  believe  that  you  are  my  Ko-chin-ni- 
na-ko.  Tell  me,  are  you  not?" 

The  coyote  nodded  its  head.  Then  he  came  up  to  it 
and  took  it  in  his  arms  and  carried  it  to  his  mother's 
house  and  cared  for  it.  The  condition  in  which  he  found 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  was  a  heavy  burden  for  the  lover,  but 
his  love  never  faltered.  One  day  he  set  out  with  her 
to  find  some  one  who  would  break  the  spell  and  restore 
Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  to  herself. 

He  first  went  westward  to  Zuni;  thence  to  the  Nava- 
jos  and  Moki.  At  each  settlement  he  inquired  if  there 
was  a  wizard  who  was  able  to  change  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko 
from  a  coyote  to  the  beautiful  maiden  that  he  loved.  His 
search  in  that  direction  proved  fruitless.  Then  he  went 
to  the  east  to  all  the  towns,  but  found  no  conjurer  power 
ful  enough  to  aid  him. 

He  had  traveled  far  one  day  and  was  resting  under 
the  shade  of  a  tree,  when  an  old  man,  the  man  of  the 
yellow  flint,  passed  by.  The  young  man  called  to  him; 
told  him  his  story  and  asked  him  if  he  could  assist  him. 

"Perhaps,"  said  the  old  man.  Go  you  back  to 
Acoma  and  wait.  In  four  days  I  will  come  and  see  what 
I  can  do." 

The  young  man  returned  to  Acoma,  taking  the  coyote 
with  him.  In  four  days,  true  to  his  word,  the  old  man 
came  and  established  himself  in  the  open  cave  or  rift  in 
the  rocks  north  of  Acoma,  known  as  the  Kun-ni-te-ya 
Kut-ret.  There  he  called  together  all  the  spirits  of  medi 
cine,  from  the  Navajos,  the  Zunis,  the  Lagunas  and  the 
Acomas  and  from  many  other  tribes.  Then  the  old  man 
sent  for  the  young  man  and  the  coyote. 

When  they  had  come  into  the  cave,  the  old  man  took 
from  his  breast  a  yellow  flint.  He  laid  the  coyote  upon 
the  ground,  ripped  open  the  skin  with  the  sharp  flint; 
and  out  stepped  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko,  thin  and  pale. 

The  young  man  was  beside  himself  with  joy  at  the  re- 


208  SCHAT    CHEN 

covery  of  his  lost  loved  one,  and  pressed  upon  the  old  man 
an  invitation  to  accompany  them  home.  The  old  man 
went  home  with  them,  and  having  reached  the  house  of 
the  young  man's  mother,  he  was  liberally  rewarded.  Upon 
leaving,  he  gave  to  the  young  man  and  his  intended  bride 
a  few  words  of  advice.  Then  he  gave  to  Ko-chin-ni-na- 
ko  two  am-as-kurt,  two  rolls  of  fibre  twisted  into  a  pad 
to  be  worn  upon  the  head  when  carrying  water.  He  told 
her  that  one  of  the  am-as-kurt  had  no  magic  properties. 
That  the  other  was  a  magic  one  that  he  gave  her  in  order 
that  she  might  punish  the  Ko-qi-ma;  and  he  instructed 
her  in  the  manner  of  using  it. 

When  the  Ko-qi-ma  heard  that  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  had 
come  back  restored,  she  hastened  to  greet  her. 

"How  do  you  do  sister.  I  am  glad  that  you  have 
come  back  to  us.  What  pretty  am-as-kurts  you  have !  Will 
you  not  give  me  one?  We  will  go  for  water  together." 

Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  agreed  to  this.  While  they  were  at 
the  spring,  the  Ko-qi-ma  asked  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  to  give 
her  one  of  the  pretty  am-as-kurts.  They  filled  their  jars 
with  water.  Then  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  said  to  the  Ko-qi- 
ma: 

' '  Now  I  will  give  you  one  of  the  am-as-kurts ;  but  you 
must  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  this  sand  drift,  and  I  will 
roll  it  down  to  you.  If  you  catch  it,  it  is  yours. ' ' 

Down  went  the  Ko-qkma  to  the  bottom  of  the  sand 
drift.  Then  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  called: 

"Are  you  ready  1" 

"Yes,  ready, "  answered  the  Ko-qi-ma, 

At  the  word,  Ko-chin-ni-na-ko  started  the  am-as-kurf 
down  the  drift.  It  rolled  over  and  over  rapidly  until  it 
reached  the  Ko-qi-ma.  She  put  forth  both  hands  to  catch 
it.  But  it  disappeared,  for  it  was  a  magic  am-as-kurt; 
and  what  had  once  been  the  Ko-qi-ma  was  turned  into  a 
rattlesnake  and  wriggled  away  in  the  sands  and  among 
the  rocks ;  and  Ko-qi-ma  was  seen  no  more  in  Acoma. 


THE  GOVEKNOB  OF  ACOMA  AND  THE 
KUN-NI-TE-YA 


One  evening  the  governor  of  Acoma  was  sitting 
alone  in  his  house,  when  there  entered  a  stranger,  carry 
ing  a  large  bundle.  The  stranger  laid  his  bundle  upon 
the  ground  and  stood  silent  until  the  governor  spoke  to 
him  and  asked  him  what  he  wanted.  He  then  said : 

"I  have  here  in  my  bundle  shawls,  scarfs,  buck 
skins,  leggins  and  belts  which  I  wish  to  trade  and  sell  to 
the  people  of  Acoma.  As  it  is  the  custom,  I  have  come 
to  you  to  notify  you  of  my  intention. ' ' 

"I  entreat  and  implore  you  not  to  trade  with  my 
people,"  said  the  governor.  "That  bundle  contains  the 
apparel  of  the  dead.  I  know  you.  You  are  a  Kun-ni- 
te-ya,  a  robber  of  the  dead." 

"You  can  not  prevent  me,"  said  the  Kun-ni-te-ya. 
"I  will  trade  these  things  to  the  people,  and  they  will 
surely  die.  Your  people  are  doomed,  for  no  one  can 
own  the  clothing  of  the  dead  and  live." 

"I  beg  you  to  depart,"  said  the  governor.  "I  love 
my  people.  Tell  me,  is  there  nothing  I  can  offer  you! 
Is  there  nothing  I  can  do  to  persuade  you  to  go  and 
leave  my  people  in  peace?" 

"There  is  one  thing  that  you  can  do,"  replied  the 
Kun-ni-te-ya.  "Listen!  If  you  will  consent  to  join  us, 
I  will  go  away." 

"I  accept  the  terms  willingly,"  answered  the  gov 
ernor.  "To  save  my  people,  I  will  become  a  Kun-ni- 
te-ya" 

"Very  good,"  answered  the  Kun-ni-te-ya.  "I  will 
depart.  But  one  year  from  this  time,  you  must  die  and  be 
come  one  of  us.  We  will  come  for  you,  but  we  will  send 
a  sign  before  us  that  you  may  know  when  we  are  coming." 


210  SCHAT    CHEN 

Then  the  stranger  departed  and  the  people  of  Acoma 
were  saved. 

Time  went  on.  Not  one  of  the  people  knew  that  the 
governor  had  bartered  not  only  his  life,  but  had  sold  his 
future  life  to  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  to  save  the  village.  The 
winter  melted  into  spring;  spring  blossomed  into  sum 
mer;  the  young  corn  waved  in  the  fields,  ripened 
and  was  cut  down.  The  governor  was  seated  on  a 
rock  which  overlooked  the  village  of  his  people.  It 
was  autumn.  He  looked  out  upon  the  town  and  sighed, 
for  he  knew  that  his  time  was  drawing  nigh.  As  he  sat 
thus,  one  of  the  great  toes  began  to  swell.  He  knew  that 
this  was  the  sign  the  Kun-ni-te-ya  had  sent  before  them. 
The  toe  continued  to  swell  and  the  pain  of  it  became 
more  and  more  intense.  At  last  he  saw  the  spirits  com 
ing.  They  hovered  around  him  waiting  for  the  end.  He 
stretched  his  body  on  the  rock  and  thus  he  died. 


THE  HUNTER  GIRL  AND  THE  GIANTESS. 


The  people  of  Laguna  once  lived  west  cross  the 
river,  southwest  from  where  the  town  now  stands  and  the 
settlement  was  called  Ko-shti-a.  There  lived  at  that  place 
a  man  and  his  wife  who  had  an  only  daghter.  It  was  the 
custom  for  all  the  boys  of  the  different  families  to  go  out 
on  certain  days  in  winter  to  kill  rabbits.  One  day  the  girl 
told  her  parents  that  she  was  going  rabbit  hunting.  She 
said:  "I  am  only  a  girl,  but  I  believe  I  can  kill  as  many 
rabbits  as  any  of  the  boys." 

She  started  on  the  rabbit  hunt  and  succeeded  in  kill 
ing  a  number  of  rabbits  and,  getting  tired,  stopped  in  a 
recess  or  cave  on  the  north  side  Ti-mi-ya,  a  small  butte 
about  three  miles  southwest  of  Laguna,  to  rest  and  cook  a 
rabbit  for  her  dinner.  About  that  time  an  old  giantess 
appeared  on  the  scene,  attracted,  no  doubt,  by  the  smell  of 
the  roasting  rabbits  and  spoke  to  the  girl.  The  girl  was 
very  much  frightened  at  the  huge  being,  the  giantess  was 
as  big  as  a  mountain,  her  mouth  was  several  yards  across. 
She  told  the  girl  that  she  was  also  hunting  but  was  not  so 
successful  as  to  have  caught  any  game  and  asked  her  for 
a  rabbit.  The  girl  threw  her  a  rabbit  which  she  swallowed 
at  one  gulp  and  then  called  for  another  and  then  another 
until  they  were  all  gone.  Then  she  told  the  girl  that  she 
wanted  more.  The  girl  took  her  clothes,  one  garment  at 
a  time,  and  threw  them  to  the  giantess.  The  giantess 
then  said  that  she  was  going  to  eat  the  girl.  The  recess 
in  which  the  girl  was  in  was  so  small  that  the  giantess 
could  get  neither  her  hand  or  her  head  into  it. 

The  girl  began  to  scream  and  cry  and  Ma-sav  and 
his  brother,  0-yo-ya-vi,  (the  hero  brothers)  who  were  in 
the  Si-pi  mountains  east  of  the  Rio  Grande,  heard  her 
crying  and  Ma-sav  said  to  his  brother,  "Listen!  I  hear 


212  SCHAT    CHEN 

some  one  of  our  people  crying;  let  us  go  and  see  what 
the  trouble  is." 

They  started  and  in  due  time  arrived  at  the  place 
and  found  the  old  giant  woman  pounding  on  the  opening 
of  the  cave  with  a  large  stone,  making  marks  which  are 
still  to  be  seen  on  the  stone.  She  spoke  to  them  saying, 
"My  grandsons,  what  are  you  doing?"  "0,  we  are 
hunting  rabbits,"  they  replied.  "What  nice  spears  you 
have  and  what  sharp  points."  "Yes,"  said  the  brothers, 
you  can  see  them  better  if  you  stand  up  and  turn  your 
head  a  little  to  one  side." 

As  she  was  about  to  stand  up,  they  threw  their, 
spears  and  each  struck  her  in  the  neck  and  killed  her.  They 
then  cut  her  open  and  took  out  the  girl 's  clothes  and  re 
turned  them  to  her.  Then  they  cut  off  the  giantess' 
head  and  threw  it  over  to  the  southeast,  where  it  now  lies, 
turned  to  stone,  on  the  north  side  of  the  trail  that  leads 
to  iStchum-mu-ya,  the  place  of  the  bees. 

The  stone  into  which  the  giantess'  head  was  turned 
is  known  as  Sko-yo  Ko-wow-we,  the  giant's  face.  The 
brothers  also  threw  the  heart  to  the  north,  and  its  stands 
in  the  shape  of  a  hill  northeast  of  Laguna  on  the  road  to 
Qisch-chi,  the  town  of  Paguate.  That  hill  is  known  by  the 
name  Ka-wash-ka,  the  heart.  After  the  throwing  of  the 
parts  of  the  body,  the  brothers  went  out  and  killed  a  good 
number  of  rabbits  for  the  girl  and  took  her  home. 


THE  COYOTE  AND  THE  PEAIEIE  DOG 


One  morning  a  coyote  who  was  traveling  through  the 
country,  came  to  a  prairie  dog  town.  He  was  very 
hungry,  for  he  had  not  had  his  breakfast,  so  he  said  to 
himself.  "I  will  lie  down  here  and  make  believe  that  I 
am  dead.  Maybe  the  prairie  dogs  will  come  out  and  I 
will  catch  one  for  my  breakfast. " 

Accordingly  he  stretched  himself  out  upon  the 
ground  and  breathed  very  softly  and  lay  very  still  so  that 
he  appeared  like  a  dead  coyote.  By  and  by  a  prairie  dog 
came  out  of  his  hole  and  saw  him.  He  ran  back  in  a 
fright;  but  soon  reappeared  and  took  a  long  look  at  the 
coyote.  The  he  drew  nearer  and  nearer,  for  he  saw  that 
the  coyote  was  dead.  Soon  out  came  another  prairie  dog 
and  then  another  and  another,  until  a  large  number  of 
them  were  grouped  about  the  dead  coyote.  They  began 
to  rejoice  that  their  old  enemy  was  dead.  A  council  was 
called,  and  all  the  prairie  dogs  were  summoned  to  attend 
and  rejoice  at  the  death  of  their  enemy.  When  they  had 
assembled,  it  was  discovered  that  one  prairie  dog  was 
missing,  so  four  of  their  number  were  sent  to  request  him 
to  come  to  the  council ;  but  the  prairie  dog  refused  to  go. 

"I  will  stay  here  near  my  den  and  rejoice/'  he  said. 
"I  am  crippled  and  cannot  run  fast,  and  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  coyote  is  dead.  He  is  only  shamming. " 

The  four  dogs  returned  to  the  council  and  all  the  dogs 
danced  around  the  body  of  their  dead  enemy,  heaping  in 
sults  upon  him  and  calling  him  bad  names.  At  last  one, 
more  bold  than  the  rest,  poked  the  coyote  with  his  paw. 
The  coyote  sprang  up  seized  all  the  prairie  dogs  near 
him.  The  others  scampered  away  in  terror.  The  lame 
prairie  dog  who  had  been  watching  the  proceedings  from 
afar  off,  ran  limping  to  his  den  calling  as  he  went : 

"Kai-ek-ko  e-suts-sa,  kai-ek-ko  e-sus-sa."  (I  told 
you  so,  I  told  you  so.) 


THE  COYOTE  AND  THE  HORNED  TOAD 


On  the  sunny  side  of  a  big,  standing,  sandstone  rock 
sat  a  horn  toad,  duh-bin-ish-ki,  singing  a  song.  And  this 
is  what  he  sang : 

"Mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki, 

Yow-ni  kut-chin-ni,  yo-ni  kut-chin-ni, 

I-sin-mi  ta-la-ma-ha. ' ' 
Translation : 

Mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki, 

The  rock  stands,  the  rock  stands,  right  there. 

A  coyote  (tsush-ki),  happening  to  be  in  the  vicinity, 
heard  the  song  and  said  to  himself,  "Ah!  that  is  my 
friend,  the  horn  toad,  singing.  I  must  go  and  find  him 
and  learn  to  sing  that  song." 

The  horn  toad  was  still  singing  when  the  coyote  ap 
peared  around  the  corner  of  the  rock. 

"How  do  you  do,  my  friend?"  said  the  coyote.  "That 
is  a  beautiful  song  you  are  singing.  Will  you  not  sing  it 
again  for  me  ?  I  wish  to  learn  it. ' ' 

The  obliging  toad  sang  the  song  over  and  over,  the 
coyote  repeating  the  words,  until  he  announced  that  he 
had  learned  it. 

"Now,"  said  the  coyote,  "I  must  be  going,  for  I 
have  a  long  trip  before  me."  So  he  trotted  away,  sing 
ing  the  song  he  had  learned. 

When  the  coyote  had  gone,  the  horn  toad  said  to  him 
self,  "He  will  soon  return.  He  will  forget  the  song  and 
will  come  back  for  me  to  sing  it  to  him  again.  Perhaps 
he  will  be  friendly  the  next  time  he  comes." 

Then  the  horn  toad  slipped  out  of  his  skin  as  easily 
as  he  would  have  taken  off  his  overcoat.  He  put  a  large 
sharp  piece  of  flint  into  the  empty  skin  and  crawled  away 
and  hid  in  the  rocks. 


THE    COYOTE    AND    THE    HORNED    TOAD  215 

As  the  coyote  went  on  his  journey,  singing,  he  came 
suddenly  to  a  small  pond.  There  was  a  flock  of  ducks 
upon  the  pond ;  and,  seeing  the  coyote,  they  flew  up  with  a 
great  clamor  arid  quacking.  The  noise  frightened  the 
coyote  so  badly  he  forgot  the  song  he  had  learned.  As 
soon  as  he  recovered  from  his  fright  he  began  to  sing, 
but  when  he  had  sung  "Mo-ki  mo-ki  mo-ki,"  he  could  get 
no  further.  Try  as  he  would  he  could  not  recollect  the 
remainder  of  the  song.  Finally  he  decided  to  go  back  to  x 
the  horn  toad  and  have  him  sing  the  song  again.  Accord 
ingly  he  retraced  his  steps  to  the  place  where  he  had 
left  the  horn  toad.  The  skin  of  the  toad  still  sat  by  the 
rock,  and  the  horn  toad  looked  out  from  his  hiding  place 
at  the  coyote. 

"My  friend,"  began  the  coyote,  addressing  the 
empty  skin,  "I  have  forgotten  the  song  you  taught  me. 
Will  yoTi  not  sing  it  for  me  again?" 

For  answer,  the  skin  of  the  horn  toad  only  sat  and 
stared  at  the  coyote.  8*uacr«ih 

"I  will  ask  you  four  times  to  sing,"  growled  the 
coyote,  "and  if  you  do  not  sing,  I  shall  swallow  you.'7 

Four  times  the  coyote  repeated  the  request,  but  still 
the  skin  sat  immoveable  and  mute.  At  the  fourth  re 
quest,  the  coyote  snapped  up  the  skin  of  the  horn  toad 
and  swallowed  it.  The  sharp  flint  within  cut  his  throat 
and  stomach,  and  he  fell  down  and  died. 


KO-CHIN-NT-NA-KO — IN    THE    MASK   DANCES 


SH-AH-COCK  AND  MIOCHIN  OE  THE  BATTLE 

OF  THE  SEASONS 


The  Queres  Indian  traditions  unlike  those  of  most  every  other 
people,  very  rarely  refer  to  their  exploits  in  war  and  one  not  acquainted 
with  them  would,  of  course,  naturally  expect  the  reverse.  This  alegori- 
cal  yarn  of  the  battle  of  the  seasons  is  their  nearest  attempt  to  portray 
a  battle  scene.  True,  they  tell  of  various  encounters  with  enemies,  but 
the  account  is  very  meager.  One  reason  is,  that  the  Queres  Indians 
are  not  a  war  like  people,  and  another  thing,  to  the  old  men  and  old 
women,  who,  as  a  general  thing  tell  these  stories  most,  the  recounting 
of  battle  scenes  is  not  very  agreeable. 

You  have  noticed  that  some  of  the  traditions  refer  to  the  White 
Village  of  the  north  and  others  to  the  White  Village  of  the  southeast 
and  others  to  the  White  Village  furtherest  southeast;  showing  that  the 
migration  was  by  stages  to  the  northwest,  to  a  certain  point  and  from 
there,  towards  the  south. 

In  the  Kush-kut-ret-u-nah-tit  (white  village  of  the 
north)  was  once  a  ruler  by  the  name  of  Hut-cha-rnun  Ki- 
uk  (the  broken  prayer  stick),  one  of  whose  daughters, 
Ko-chin-ne-na-ko,  became  the  bride  of  Sh-ah-cock  (the 
spirit  of  winter),  a  person  of  very  violent  temper.  He 
always  manifested  his  presence  by  blizzards  of  snow 
and  sleet  or  by  freezing  cold,  and  on  account  of  his  alli 
ance  with  the  ruler's  daughter,  he  was  most  of  the  time  in 
the  vicinity  of  Kush-kutret,  and  as  these  manifestations 
continued  from  month  to  month  and  year  to  year,  the 
people  of  Kush-kutret  found  that  their  crops  would  not 
mature,  and  finally  they  were  compelled  to  subsist  on  the 
leaves  of  the  cactus. 

On  one  occasion  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  had  wandered  a 
long  way  from  home  in  search  of  the  cactus  and  had 
gathered  quite  a  bundle  and  was  preparing  to  carry  home 
by  singeing  off  the  thorns,  when  on  looking  up  she  found 
herself  confronted  by  a  very  bold  but  handsome  young 
man.  His  attire  attracted  her  gaze  at  once.  He  wore  a 
shirt  of  yellow  woven  from  the  silks  of  the  corn,  a  belt 
made  from  the  broad  green  blades  of  the  same  plant,  a 


218  SCHAT    CHEN 

tall  pointed  hat  made  from  the  same  kind  of  material  and 
from  the  top  of  which  waved  a  yellow  corn  tassel.  He 
wore,  green  leggings  woven  from  kow-e-nuh,  the  green 
stringy  moss  that  forms  in  springs  and  ponds.  His  moc 
casins  were  beautifully  embroidered  with  flowers  and  but 
terflies.  In  his  hand  he  carried  an  ear  of  green  corn. 

His  whole  appearance  proclaimed  him  a  stranger 
and  as  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  gazed  in  wonder,  he  spoke  to  her 
in  a  very  pleasing  voice  asking  her  what  she  was  doing. 
She  fold  him  that  on  account  of  the  cold  and  drouth  the 
people  of  Kush-kutret  were  forced  to  eat  the  leaves  of  the 
cactus  to  keep  from  starving. 

"Here,"  said  the  young  man,  handing  her  the  ear  of 
green  corn.  ' '  Eat  this  and  I  will  go  and  bring  more  that 
you  may  take  home  with  you." 

He  left  her  and  soon  disappeared  going  towards  the 
south.  In  a  short  time  he  returned  bringing  with  him  a 
big  load  of  green  corn.  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  asked  him 
where  he  had  gathered  the  corn  and  if  it  grew  near  by. 
"No,"  he  replied,  "it  is  from  my  home  far  away  in  the 
south,  where  the  corn  grows  and  the  flowers  bloom  all  the 
year  round.  Would  you  not  like  to  accompany  me  back  to 
my  country."  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  replied  that  his  home 
must  be  very  beautiful,  but  that  she  could  not  go  with  him 
because  she  was  the  wife  of  Sh-ah-cock.  And  then  she 
told  him  of  her  alliance  with  the  spirit  of  winter,  and  ad 
mitted  that  her  husband  was  very  cold  and  disagreeable 
and  that  she  did  not  love  him.  The  strange  young  man 
urged  her  to  go  with  him  to  the  warm  land  of  the  south, 
saying  that  he  didn't  fear  Sh-as-cock.  But  Ko-chin-ne- 
na-ko  would  not  consent.  So  the  stranger  directed  her  to 
return  to  her  home  with  the  corn  he  had  brought  and 
cautioned  her  not  to  throw  any  of  the  husks  out  of  the 
door.  Upon  leaving  he  said  to  her,  "you  must  meet  me 


SH-AH-COCK  AND  MIOCHIN  OR  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SEASONS  219 

at  this  place  tomorrow.    I  will  bring  more  corn  for  you. ' ' 

Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  had  not  proceeded  far  on  her  home 
ward  way  ere  she  met  her  sisters  who,  having  become  un 
easy  because  of  her  long  absence,  had  come  in  search 
of  her.  They  were  greatly  surprised  at  seeing  her  with 
an  armful  of  corn  instead  of  cactus.  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko 
told  them  the  whole  story  of  how  she  had  obtained  it,  and 
thereby  only  added  wonderment  to  their  surprise.  They 
helped  her  to  carry  the  corn  home;  and  there  she  had 
again  to  tell  her  story  to  her  father  and  mother. 

When  she  had  described  the  stranger  even  from  his 
peaked  hat  to  his  butterfly  moccasins,  and  had  told  them 
that  she  was  to  meet  him  again  on  the  day  following, 
Hutchamun  Kiuk,  the  father,  exclaimed: 

"It  is  Mi-o-chin!" 

"It  is  Mi-o-chin!  It  is  Mi-o-chin !"  echoed  the 
mother.  "Tomorrow  you  must  bring  him  home  with 
you. ' ' 

The  next  day  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  went  again  to  the 
spot  wehre  she  had  met  Mi-o-chin,  for  it  was  indeed  Mi- 
o-chin,  the  spirit  of  summer.  He  was  already  there, 
awaiting  her  coming.  With  him  he  had  brought  a  huge 
bundle  of  corn. 

Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  pressed  upon  him  the  invitation 
of  her  parents  to  accompany  her  home,  so  together  they 
carried  the  corn  to  Kush  Kut-ret.  When  it  had  been  dis 
tributed  there  was  sufficient  to  feed  all  the  people  of  the 
city.  Amid  great  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving,  Mi-o-chin 
was  welcomed  at  the  Hotchin's  (ruler's)  house.  « 

In  the  evening,  as  was  his  custom,  Sh-ah-cock,  the 
Spirit  of  the  Winter,  returned  to  his  home.  He  came  in 
a  blinding  storm  of  snow  and  hail  and  sleet,  for  he  was 
in  boisterous  mood.  On  approaching  the  city,  he  felt 
within  his  very  bones  that  Mi-o-chin  was  there,  so  he 
called  in  a  loud  and  blustering  voice : 


220  SCHAT    CHEN 

"Ha!  Mi-o-chin,  are  you  here?" 

For  answer,  Mi-o-chin  advanced  to  meet  him. 

Then  Sh-ah-cock,  beholding  him,  called  again: 

"Ha!  Mi-o-chin,  I  will  destroy  you." 

"Ha!  Sh-ah-cock,  I  will  destroy  you,"  replied  Mi-o- 
chin,  still  advancing. 

Sh-ah-cock  paused,  irresolute.  He  was  covered  from 
head  to  foot  with  frost  (skah.)  Icycles  (ya-pet-tu-ne) 
draped  him  round.  The  fierce,  cold  wind  proceeded  from 
his  nostrils. 

As  Mi-o-chin  drew  near,  the  wintry  wind  changed 
to  a  warm  summer  breeze.  The  frost  and  icycles  melted 
and  displayed  beneath  them,  the  dry,  bleached  bulrushes 
(ska-ra  ska-ru-ka)  in  which  Sh-ah-cock  was  clad. 

Seeing  that  he  was  doomed  to  defeat,  Sh-ah-cock 
cried  out: 

"I  will  not  fight  you  now,  for  we  cannot  try  our 
powers.  We  will  make  ready,  and  in  four  days  from  this 
time,  we  will  meet  here  and  fight  for  the  supremacy.  The 
victor  shall  claim  Ko-chin-ne-na-ko  for  his  wife." 

With  this,  (Sh-ah-cock  withdrew  in  a  rage.  The  wind 
again  roared  and  shook  the  very  houses ;  but  the  people 
were  warm  within  them,  for  Mi-o-chin  was  with  them. 

The  next  day  Mi-o-chin  left  Kush  Kutret  for  his 
home  in  the  south.  Arriving  there,  he  began  to  make  his 
preparations  to  meet  Sh-ah-cock  in  battle. 

First  he  sent  an  eagle  as  a  messenger  to  his  friend, 
Ya-chun-ne-ne-moot  (kind  of  shaley  rock  that  becomes 
very  hot  in  the  fire),  who  lived  in  the  west,  requesting 
him  to  come  and  help  to  battle  with  Sh-ah-cock.  Then 
he  called  together  the  birds  and  the  four  legged  animals- 
all  those  that  live  in  sunny  climes.  For  his  advance 
guard  and  shield  he  selected  the  bat  (pickikke),  as  its 
tough  skin  would  best  resist  the  sleet  and  hail  that  Sh-ah- 
cock  would  hurl  at  him. 


SH-AH-COCK  AND  MJOCHJN  OK  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SEASONS  221 

Meantime  Sh-ah-cock  had  gone  to  his  home  in  the 
north  to  make  his  preparations  for  battle.  To  his  aid  he 
called  all  the  winter  birds  and  all  of  the  four  legged 
animals  of  the  wintry  climates.  For  his  advance  guard 
and  shield  he  selected  the  Shro-ak-ah,  (a  magpie). 

When  these  formidable  forces  had  been  mustered  by 
the  rivals,  they  advanced,  Mi-o-chin  from  the  south  and 
Sh-ah-cock  from  the  north,  in  battle  array. 

Ya-chum-ne-ne-moot  kindled  his  fires  and  piled 
great  heaps  of  risinous  fuel  upon  them  until  volumes  of 
steam  and  smoke  ascended,  forming  enormous  clouds 
that  hurried  forward  toward  Kush  Kut-ret  and  the  battle 
ground.  Upon  these  clouds  rode  Mi-o-chin,  the  Spirit  of 
Summer,  and  his  vast  army.  All  the  animals  of  the  army, 
encountering  the  smoke  from  Ya-chun-ne-ne-moot's  fires, 
were  colored  by  the  smoke,  so  that,  from  that  day,  the 
animals  from  the  south  have  been  black  or  brown  in  color. 

Sh-ah-cock  and  his  army  came  out  of  the  north  in  a 
howling  blizzard  and  borne  forward  on  black  storm 
clouds  driven  by  a  freezing  wintry  wind.  As  he  came  on, 
the  lakes  and  rivers  over  which  he  passed  were  frozen  and 
the  air  was  filled  with  blinding  sleet. 

When  the  combatants  drew  near  to  Kush  Kut-ret, 
they  advanced  with  fearful  rapidity.  Their  arrival  upon 
the  field  was  marked  by  fierce  and  terrific  strife. 

Plashes  of  lightning1  darted  from  Mi-o-chin 's  clouds. 
Striking  the  animals  of  Sha-ah-cock,  they  singed  the  hair 
upon  them,  and  turned  it  white,  so  that,  from  that  day, 
the  animals  from  the  north  have  worn  a  covering  of  white 
or  have  white  markings  upon  them.  A 

From  the  south,  the  black  clouds  still  rolled  upward, 
the  thunder  spoke  again  and  again.  Clouds  of  smoke 
and  vapor  rushed  onward,  melting  the  snow  and  ice 
weapons  of  Sh-ah-cock  and  compelling  him,  at  length,  to 
retire  from  the  field.  Mi-o-chin,  assured  of  victory, 


222  SCHAT-CHEN 

pursued  him.  To  save  himself  from  total  defeat  and 
destruction,  Sh-ah-cock  called  for  an  armistic. 

This  being  granted  on  the  part  of  Mi-o-chin,  the 
rivals  met  at  Kush  Kut-ret  to  arrange  the  terms  of  tl^e 
treaty.  Sh-ah-cock  acknowledged  himself  defeated.  He 
consented  to  give  up  Ko-chin-ne-ne-ko  to  Mi-o-chin.  This 
concession  was  received  with  rejoicing  by  Ko-chin-ne-na- 
ko  and  all  the  people  of  Kush  Kut-ret. 

It  was  then  agreed  between  the  late  combatants 
that,  for  all  time  thereafter,  Mi-o-chin  was  to  rule  at 
Kush  Kut-ret  during  one-half  of  the  year,  and  Sh-ah- 
cock  was  to  rule  during  the  remaining  half,  and  that 
neither  should  molest  the  other. 


MONTHS  OF  THE  YEAR 


January—  Me-yo  sitch  ta-watch.  (Me-yo,  a  little 
lizzard;  sitch,  cut  off;  ta-watch,  moon.)  The 
month  when  the  little  lizzard 's  tail  freezes 
off. 

February —  (Yu-mun — (Yu-mun,  root  of  plant).  Named 
after  the  root  of  a  little  plant,  (daughter  of 
spring) . 

March—  Stchum-mu — (The  same  plant  above 
ground). 

April—  Puschuts-otes — (Pus-chuts,  sticky  ground, 
otes,  to  plant).  Wheat  sowing  time. 

May—  Sho-wats  Otes — (When  the  ground  is  soft 

like  ashes).  Corn  planting  time. 

June—  A-chin — (Corn  tassel). 

July—  Hi-shin — (First  appearance  of  the  ear  of 

corn). 

August—       Ya-mon — (Beard  of  the  corn). 
September — Ki-nut — (Corn  when  it  is  in  the  milk). 
October—      Ki-ti-stchi-ta-ta — (Corn  fully  matured). 
November — Hai-a-tssi — (Fall  of  the  year). 
December — Sin-ni-kok — (Middle  of  the  winter). 


